wfn.org | Four Episcopal chaplains leaving for Balkans ministry

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2001-202

Four Episcopal chaplains leaving for Balkans ministry

by Jerry Hames
jhames@episcopalchurch.org
(Photos available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/ens/2001-202.html)

     (Episcopal Life) Four Episcopal chaplains, including one from the Army 
Reserve and one from the Air Force National Guard, will leave on a peace-keeping 
mission to the Balkans in a few weeks, joining a fifth, the Rev. Chris Pierce in 
Kosovo, who is completing his assignment in that strife-torn region.

     "It is exceptional to have five Episcopal Church chaplains-three active duty 
and two Reserve/National Guard-in the same deployed area with units assigned to 
high profile peacekeeping missions," said the Rev. Gerald J. Blackburn, director 
for military ministries in the office of the Bishop for the Armed Services, 
Healthcare and Prison Ministries.

     Three of the four chaplains visited the Episcopal Church Center recently for 
a briefing with Blackburn and Bishop George Packard who heads the office. They 
also spoke with Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold and the Rev. Frank Wismer, an 
Army Reserve chaplain and rector of St. Michael's, Worcester, Massachusetts, who 
has Balkan chaplain military experience.

     The chaplains leave for missions in Kosovo and Sarajevo at a time when 
multinational attempts are being undertaken to avert a new Balkan war between 
Macedonian Army and militia forces and the ethnic-Albanian National Liberation 
Army. At the root of the conflict are demands by the 30-percent Albanian minority 
for constitutional and other changes that Macedonians fear would splinter the 
country.

     The two chaplains traveling with Reserve/National Guard troops are the Rev. 
John Weatherly, rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Alexandria, Virginia, and 
the Rev. Donald Roberts, assistant rector of The Falls Church, Virginia.

     More reserve troops are now being deployed for peacekeeping missions as the 
use of active duty troops is scaled back, said Weatherly. "This has a tremendous 
impact on their families and on their employment as well. Some will likely have 
to find new jobs when they return home," he said.

     In addition, due to the relatively small American peacekeeping force in the 
Balkans, the chaplains say this creates greater risk, less time off duty, more 
stress on the job and, as a consequence, more demand upon their ministry. Among 
the responsibilities peacekeepers have are patrolling and preserving order in 
neighborhoods, inspecting weapons caches, preventing assaults and rapes, 
eliminating sniper fire and breaking up roadblocks.

     The stress also touches chaplains and their families. For the Rev. Sean 
Wead, an active duty chaplain at Fort Drum, NewYork, this assignment begins his 
fifth tour of duty overseas. As he has watched the Army's size cut considerably 
the past 10 years, he has seen more frequent overseas assignments for those in 
active duty, creating the need, he says, for "a lot of divorce counseling."

     The fourth chaplain, the Rev. David Scheider, also at Fort Drum, stresses 
that soldiers and their families need to receive a "positive perception" of the 
important role  they play in such operations. "What they're doing is positive for 
the world," he says. "If they recognize that, it becomes an important resource to 
help them through times of separation."

--Jerry Hames is editor of Episcopal Life, the church's official newspaper.