Army Chaplain (Capt.) James B. Russell has a unique perspective on the Chaplaincy. Once a nurse, now a Chaplain, Russell now serves in a similar but changed role.
“I could deal with people’s pain as a nurse, but as a chaplain, I can enter into people’s suffering.” Russell says the best part of being a chaplain now is the opportunity to speak to so many people. “Just to sit and be with someone is a gift from God…” Read more
As is often the case, US military Chaplains in San Antonio again demonstrated they can have strategic impact on military relationships. US Third Army Chaplains met with imams from the Jordanian Armed Forces to discuss their roles in supporting their respective forces.
“The intent of the exchange was to enhance the capabilities of religious support in contingency operations of both the Jordanian Armed Forces Chaplaincy and the U.S. Chaplaincy through face-to-face discussions of both religious support doctrine and operational experience,” said Col. Richard Pace, command chaplain, Third Army.
Chaplains have many roles and responsibilities, and their professions are far more complex than just preaching on Sunday morning. Just ask the Chaplains who recently made an official visit to Namibia.
Chaplain (1Lt) William Parsons serves a “two-fold” mission in the US Army:
Parsons still wears a cross on his Army Combat Uniform, but the American flag on his right shoulder also symbolizes his mission, not only for God, but for country.
Parsons seems to understand what is often forgotten in the modern culture: character and well-being spring from within, and one ignores them at their peril: Read more
Chaplain (Ens) Asif Balbale is a Muslim Chaplain — in fact, the only one — at Camp Pendleton. He shares his unique religious position at the base with Chaplain Shin, the Navy’s only Buddhist Chaplain.
The Chaplain seems to have a solid grasp of his role, which includes religious training of military members:
Part of my job is to educate people on what it means to be a Muslim.
He’s absolutely correct, of course, just as other Chaplains’ jobs include Read more
Chaplain (MajGen) Douglas Carver, the Army’s chief of chaplains, recently attended the Southern Baptist Convention chaplain’s luncheon in Florida. He noted the difficulties of the military life as a whole — with high deployments, challenges to marriage, rising suicide rates, etc — and also the challenges to the Chaplaincy:
“We chaplains must persevere,” he said. “Our faith is being tested and tried. These are the days when spiritual leaders — like our chaplains — must stand the test, press on, be reliable, be authentic, be men and women of integrity and maintain spiritual stamina.”
A newspaper highlights local Dewayne Wolf, who is going through the Chaplain school at Fort Jackson, SC, to become an Army Chaplain. Already Wolf seems to recognize the challenge in integrating faith and profession, and also his purpose as a Chaplain:
The lifestyle is kind of rough, especially in the infantry. To break away from that lifestyle really makes a distinction…It’s not the easiest environment to stand for what you believe. Nowhere is it easy to be a conservative Christian. That’s why they need good chaplains in the military.
That said, it appears Wolf — who was formerly a Chaplain’s assistant — may yet have something to learn at the Chaplain school:
As a chaplain, your main focus is evangelism. Read more
Timothy Broglio, Archbishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, recently joined a group of Catholic priests for a recruiting visit at Peterson AFB, CO. Broglio was most recently in the news for his statement against the repeal of “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”
During the visit, the 8 Roman Catholic priests observed military members in action and got a C-21 ride to view Pike’s Peak from the air.
The military objective of the visit was to recruit more Catholic priests to the military Chaplaincy. While the Air Force is cutting Chaplains this year, Catholic Chaplains are the one group who are not being reduced.
The Catholic Archbishop for the military diocese, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, released a statement at the request of the military Chief Chaplains on the impact of a repeal of DADT on the Chaplaincy. He had some strong and unequivocal words on the subject: Read more