The Need for Military Chaplains

The Southern Baptist Convention recently noted the value of US military chaplains even here at home — in the wake of the second Fort Hood shooting:

“This tragic event highlights the critically important ministry of chaplains,” Doug Carver, executive director for chaplaincy at the North American Mission Board, said. “They are able to minister immediately in situations like this, even before churches can respond, because chaplains are there in the military community as soldiers themselves.

“The armed forces don’t see chaplains as pastors in uniform. They see them as members of the family,” Carver said. “The culture in the military is so close-knit that when a soldier is hurt, that means a family member is hurting. Military life is family.”

Carver’s point is an important one: Chaplains are not Read more

Chick-fil-A Beats KFC Again, But Why?

Chick-fil-A bested KFC as the “leader in the US chicken fast-food industry,” though KFC has more stores open more often. (Chick-fil-A is famously closed on Sunday.)

Chick-fil-A reportedly had 1,775 locations and pulled in $5.05 billion in sales last year, according to Technomic. KFC had 4,438 stores that pulled in $4.22 billion in U.S. sales.

As to why they’re closed on Sunday — something often attributed to religion — its “as much practical as spiritual:”

“Our founder, Truett Cathy…believes Read more

VA Chaplain Ends 42-Year Career

A local paper, repeated at the Stars and Stripes, highlights the fascinating story of 91-year-old VA Chaplain Ben Vegors, who has served at the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial Veterans Affairs Medical Center’s chapel for more than four decades.

[Over the years], he’s helped many men and women recover their faith as their bodies recovered from the effects of military service.

“Here in the chapel it’s been a real good thing,” said Vegors, his voice rich with the memory. “I’ve directed hundreds back to their churches.”

The story starts much earlier, with his conversion in 1940 and his service in B-24s during World War II. Read the full story here.

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US Air Force Academy Hosts Wiccan Priestess

While the US Air Force Academy is regularly accused of being dominated by Christianity, its support for other faith systems routinely goes unnoticed or unpublicized (even by its own Public Affairs, apparently):

Selena Fox, who calls herself a Wiccan priestess, was recently hosted by the USAFA chaplains. (She’s holding a chapel coin.) They took a hike with some local pagans up to Falcon Circle, formerly known as the LZ, an “outdoor chapel” area created with some intent to host earth-centered religious adherents a few years ago.

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Commentators Cite Military Chaplains after SCOTUS Prayer Case

John Ragosta, Paul Finkelman and Steven K. Green, “legal scholars and historians who participated as amicus” in the recent Greece prayer case at the Supreme Court, struggled to understand what the Supreme Court intended to mean by its ruling:

The court fails, though, to explain what this means, an issue that the dissent takes up. Should prayers occur before the public is invited into the room? Should prayers be directed only at the board? Should the members themselves take turns invoking prayers, making it clear that they are personal and not “official” prayers?

These scholars missed the obvious issue that Read more

Vermont ANG Chaplain Serves All Beliefs, No Beliefs

An Air Force article highlights US Air Force Chaplain (Maj) Michael Medas, a Roman Catholic Priest who has joined the Vermont Air National Guard.

The article notes that Medas, like all chaplains, serve the entire military community, regardless of the beliefs any individual may hold:

As a military chaplain Medas provides religious services to all Air Force personnel. He has worked with faiths including Catholicism, Judaism and non-faith beliefs such as Atheism. The primary goal of an Air Force Chaplain is to support all members of the Air Force not only in their Read more

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