Tag: Military Ministry: Chaplains in the Twenty-First Century

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Thanks for Being My Chaplain, Too

As a battalion chaplain, I was asked to say a prayer before lunch at the annual family Christmas party. I love to pray. I love being visible to my Soldiers so that they know who they can go to when they need help or guidance or counseling. So I was glad for the opportunity. I also love telling my Soldiers about Jesus, but the annual family holiday party isn’t the place to preach the gospel because it is a command event . . . not a religious service.

When the time came, the commander invited me to the microphone and I prayed. I thanked the Lord for the families of the Soldiers. I asked for divine safety and protection. I prayed for the marriages and child-parent relationships. I expressed hope that the events of the day would be meaningful, fun, and encouraging. And I finished the prayer not by saying “in Jesus’s Name, Amen.” Instead, I finished by thanking the Lord for his goodness and blessings, Amen.

I returned to the table where I was sitting with my wife, and after a few minutes a young Jewish officer approached me, held out his hand to me, and said, “Thank you for being my chaplain, too!”

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Do You Need a Mentor?

One of the ways to avoid getting into trouble is to establish accountability measures and allow key people in your life to hold you answerable for what is morally right and what is helpful in your career. It is important to establish professional and spiritual mentoring relationships. We all need someone we can turn to when we are tempted, when we’re hurting, and when we’re about to do something unwise.

When I became a chaplain and went to the Officer Basic Course, Ron Casteel was the class leader. He and I became friends and kept in touch throughout our careers. Not only was he a friend, he became my mentor. Ron knew more than I did about how the military worked. He understood people. And several times when I needed guidance, he was there for me.

Fourteen years after completing the basic course, I had the opportunity to work for him at a senior command. Not only was he my friend and mentor. Now he was my boss. It was a great experience. After he retired, there was one more time that I needed his help professionally, and he was there for me. Having him as a mentor made a powerful impact on my life and career.

Perhaps you should consider finding a mentor. In fact, you might want to identify two mentors: one for spiritual accountability, and one for professional development. Allow key people in your life to hold you answerable for what is morally right, and what is helpful in your career. And listen when they speak or offer guidance.

Wherever you are in your career, it may be important for your growth, development, and success to find one or two people who can speak into your life as a friend and mentor.

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Driving Up the Mountain

I was a chaplain with an infantry battalion that was conducting field exercises in Yakima, Washington. While visiting our soldiers at remote locations, I asked my Chaplain Assistant if he would go up and over the mountain instead of taking the road around it. He agreed, but soon stopped and said he couldn’t go further because it was too steep. I told him the Hummer was built for steep inclines and asked him to proceed.

That’s when he said, “Chaplain, I’m not stopping because the vehicle can’t make it. I’m stopping because it’s too scary. I don’t want to drive up this mountain!”

“I understand. Let’s trade places and I’ll drive.”

Being a good, responsible NCO, he insisted that I show him my military driving license. And I did.

Driving up that mountain was so much fun. We got to the top, got out, and looked around. We could see for miles in each direction. Coming back down was even scarier because it seemed we were looking straight down. It was exhilarating. We were now ready to go and visit our Soldiers.

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Funeral for a Clock

After I completed the Army Chaplain Basic Course, my first assignment was with a medical unit. While participating in a field training exercise at Camp Parks in California, I met with the First Sergeant one day, and he told me that one of his Soldiers died. When I asked who the soldier was, he told me the name of the guy was “Otto.”

Well, I knew Otto was the name of the alarm clock dressed in an Army uniform. Instead of a bugle playing Reveille first thing each morning, the First Sergeant held a microphone up to the clock to wake up the troops. When the alarm sounded, a Drill Sergeant voice shouted, “Rise and shine, you sleepyheads, Rise and shine!” Somebody got tired of hearing that stupid clock shout “Rise and Shine,” so he made a noose and strung up poor Otto between two field tents. There he was swinging in the breeze.

“What do you do when a Soldier dies?” the First Sergeant asked.

“I would do a funeral,” I answered matter-of-factly.

“Would you?” His eyes got real big.

Two days later, still out in the field on the back side of an Army training base, we had a funeral complete with full military honors and protocol . . . for Otto the Clock. One of the Soldiers was a carpenter. He used scrap lumber to build a scale model replica of a coffin. Six Soldiers served as pall bearers, marching in step as they carried the coffin to the ritual. The Colonel gave the commander’s speech. The First Sergeant provided a tearful eulogy. And the Chaplain’s funeral sermon was a poem about time. Each of us is allotted a certain number of days, and when our time runs out, we’re called to give an account before the Great Clockmaker in the Sky.

A hundred Soldiers laughed so hard they literally fell out of formation onto their hands and knees in the dirt. Some of them pretended to howl and cry, others had actual tears because they were laughing so hard.

My college and seminary professors and ministerial textbooks didn’t cover funerals for clocks, and homiletics classes never trained me to write sermons as poems, but that event created a rapport with the Soldiers better than anything I could have planned. For the rest of my time with that unit, I had an open door of ministry.

Actual pictures of the funeral. Click here to read the poem.

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Letter from a Reader

Dr. Keith Travis is my co-writer for the book titled Military Ministry: Chaplains in the Twenty-First Century. He got an email today from a graduate student who is preparing to become a chaplain, and gave me permission to share this note.

I just wanted to thank you for the work you did on your book, Military Ministry: Chaplains in the 21st Century. Part of my “Intro to Chaplaincy Ministry” class is a review of your book. I have read it twice and I just wanted to say it’s gold! It’s very real, authentic and spot on in the 2024 military ministry. I can go on and on but I just wanted to say thank you.

It’s a great feeling to know we’re making a difference in people’s lives as they themselves are preparing for lives of service and ministry.

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God Speaks through Our Stories

The message below was sent to me via Messenger from a minister in Kansas who could relate to some of the stories in our book on Military Ministry. His name is Sean, and he gave me permission to share it.

“I am a seminary student and was just selected to the Army Chaplain Candidate program. During my studies, we read your book on Military Ministry and God spoke to me through your testimony. My grandfather was a SeaBee and both of my brothers were in the Navy, with the one I’m closest to retiring as a Chief Petty Officer. My whole life I have wanted to join the Navy but because I had asthma in high school I was unable to join. In adulthood, I have been healed of it and had my plans set on becoming a Navy Chaplain. I’m the Reserves, as that was my wife’s agreement.

When I read in your book about the similar situation you faced, God began speaking to me about whether I was willing to shift course and follow where He needed me rather than where I wanted to be. The Navy would not grant me the medical waiver needed, but now I am getting ready to begin ministering as an Army chaplain. I wanted to say thank you for your service, your willingness to follow God, and the inspiration I received while reading about your experiences. God bless!”

Who might God want you to tell your story to?

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Your Book Was the Perfect Addition to My Research

The following is a from an actual email that my co-author (Keith Travis) received from a minister doing his doctoral research. Keith and I are grateful for the reception the book is getting from people in churches, universities, seminaries, and the military.

“When a friend recommended your book, I bought it that day and have to say, I believe it was truly providential.

My research needed a little more meat on the bones, and your work has been the perfect addition. The practical nature of the insights into actual ministry have made your book like the perfect spice added to a bland, theoretical roast that turns it all into a great meal. I have enjoyed it thoroughly.

I could not be more thankful for this book coming to my desk at the perfect time. Just wanted to drop a short line to introduce myself and let you know how much I have enjoyed and appreciated your book.”