wfn.org | Churches near military bases go on high alert to serve

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Sept. 21, 2001 News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.     10-21-71B{419}

A UMNS Report
By Tom McAnally*

As plans for war begin to emerge from Washington, United Methodist churches
near U.S. military bases are finding themselves on high alert to offer
support, encouragement and hope to their members and communities.

Several pastors contacted by United Methodist News Service reported marked
increases in worship attendance and intensified plans to reach out to
military personnel and their families.

St. Andrews United Methodist Church, near MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa,
Fla., has 1,700 members, a third of them related to the military. The base
is home to the U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military forces in
much of the Middle East; U.S. Special Operations Command, which oversees
U.S. commando forces; and the recently reactivated 310th Airlift Squadron.

 "Attendance at worship the Sunday after the terrorist attack was
phenomenal," said the Rev. David Fuller, pastor at St. Andrews.  "Ordinarily
we have 900, but we had 1,700. We had people standing for two of our three
services. There were more children in nursery through sixth grade in Sunday
school than in all age classes the previous Sunday."  He was also impressed
that 130 people came out for a Friday night service at the same time
Tropical Storm Gabrielle was bearing down on the area.

He interpreted the attendance jump as a sign that "people need to be
together, and to hear a message of hope and encouragement and God's love and
provision for us."  

People were unusually somber and attentive as they approached the altar for
a special time of prayer and listened to the sermon, he observed. "But God
provided a wonderful point in the service when a baby being baptized burped
in the microphone. ... It provided a wonderful moment of laughter."  

In his sermon, Fuller said he stressed that  "God is a God of history, and
his purposes were made known fully through the life and ministry of Jesus
Christ. That seemed to meet them where they were." 

Fuller said he has special credibility in the congregation because he grew
up in an Air Force family and serves as chaplain of the Florida National
Guard.  Through its Stephen's Ministry, the church is gearing up to help
people, particularly those who will have to be what Fuller called a husband
or wife, mother or father "at a distance."

The Rev. Robert Folkers is pastor of St. James United Methodist Church in
Bellevue, Neb., a community that is home to Offutt Air Force Base where
President Bush went for security reasons on Sept. 11 directly after the
terrorist attacks.  The 55th Wing is the largest and most diverse in Air
Combat Command, executing worldwide reconnaissance, command and control,
presidential support, treaty verification and airlift missions.

"We live in constant tension, but it has really been heightened because of
this (terrorist attack)," Folkers said.  "As pastor, I must be open to
whatever comes. People need to talk.  At the beginning of our worship
services, we have a time for prayers for peace and the military people and
their families."  At least 65 percent of the church's 1,000 members are
related to Offutt, he said.   

Folkers' congregation each Sunday includes a large number of officers from
Offutt.  "They are extremely intelligent people and I must be on my toes all
the time," he said.  As a pastor in this setting, he said he finds tension
between "representing the Gospel and the demands placed on these guys to use
force in settling issues."

"When we talk about it, we talk about what we are after - peace at all
cost," he said.  "They don't want killing.  This terrorist issue has really
hit a lot of them hard."

Folkers, at St. James for 11 years, said being a pastor near a military base
is "exciting, a great kind of ministry." 

At Fort Campbell, Ky., on the border of Kentucky and Tennessee, the 101st
Airborne is often the first called in times of national emergencies.  The
Rev. Douglas N. Norfleet is pastor of Madison Street United Methodist Church
in nearby Clarksville, Tenn.  Of the church's 1,250 members, about 40
percent are related to the military.

"A number of our people are packed and ready to be deployed," he said.
"We're doing several things to reach out to the families, including a
support group for spouses and an adopt-a-family program."  During Desert
Storm in 1991, he said the church implemented a program whereby civilian
families adopted military spouses and their families, he said.

In addition to ministries of caring, the church is stressing education, he
said.  For five Wednesday evenings during October and November, a history
and philosophy professor from a local university will be leading sessions on
"Theologies of War and Peace Among Abraham's Children: Jews, Christians and
Muslims." 

"We want to compare and contrast those three faith traditions and better
understand each other," Norfleet said.

Reflecting on news coming from Washington, Norfleet said, "War is
inevitable. What is our role as a community of faith in that?  How do we
care?  How do we proclaim Christ, peace, justice in the midst of the
devastations of war?" 

The Rev. Kelly Greenawald is pastor of the 168-member Port Tampa United
Methodist Church, a short walk from MacDill Air Force base. Since the
terrorist attacks, she is taking it "day by day," she said.

"I try to help people see that God is still in control," she said.  "Even
though evil may appear to have won, the ultimate victory has been won for us
in Jesus Christ."  

The Rev. David Wade has been pastor of Camp Ground United Methodist Church
in Fayetteville, N.C., since June.  His church, not far from Fort Bragg, has
an average worship attendance of 400 people, a fourth of those military
related.  

"There is a sense of uncertainty," he said.  "We are trying to point folks
to what is certain and to hold an unchanging hand.  There is a sense in
which Christian people point others to the light.  I'm trying to be a
light-bearer."  He said his main role at this time is to be available to
individuals and families who have special needs.

Fort Bragg maintains the XVIII Airborne Corps as a strategic crisis response
force that can deploy personnel rapidly by air, sea and land.  

For the Rev. Dennis Goodwin, caring for people related to the military began
with his own staff.  For two years he has been pastor of Trinity United
Methodist Church, Jacksonville, N.C., not far from Camp Lejeune Marine Corps
Base.  He is also a National Guard chaplain.

"Several of my staff are married to military people," he said. "The last two
days I've sent them home early."

About 75 percent of Trinity's 1,200 members are connected to the military.
Like the other pastors interviewed, Goodwin stressed the importance of
taking time to help people talk about their feelings. 

Camp Lejeune is the home of expeditionary forces in readiness, providing for
the training of Marine Air/Ground task forces defending the United States.  

Trinity Church usually has about 450 people at worship, but on Sept. 16 it
had 600.  "Surprisingly, the largest increase was among the 'occasional
attenders' among our membership, not visitors," Goodwin said.

He said men in a community luncheon Bible study bombarded him with questions
such as "Where is God?" "Why do these things happen?" and "What should the
Christian response be?"

Goodwin responded by calling for a "voice of reason" which, among other
things, would not hold all Muslims responsible for the actions of a relative
few. Second, he urged people to turn off the TV set and interact with
others, partly to reduce their anger.  "Reach out and touch somebody. Help
somebody here and now," he implored. 

When it comes to the hard questions and difficult issues, he said, "People
want me as the senior pastor to step up to the plate."

#  #  #
*McAnally is director of United Methodist News Service, headquartered in
Nashville with offices in New York and Washington. 

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
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