wfn.org | United Methodist chaplains making an impact in Europe

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

April 22, 1999 News media contact: Linda Green*(615)742-5470*Nashville,
Tenn.  10-71B{218}

NOTE: This report may be used with UMNS stories #216 and #217.

A UMNS News Feature
By Kathy Gilbert*

When the Revs. Rick Kuhlbars and Dave Gerber serve Holy Communion, they are
the only two people in the congregation not carrying guns.
	
Kuhlbars and Gerber are United Methodist senior chaplains stationed in two
U.S. Army divisions in Europe. The European Command supports peace
operations in the Balkans, the Middle East and Africa.
	
Kuhlbars is division chaplain for the First Armored Division, and Gerber is
the deputy division chaplain for the First Infantry Division. Each division
consists of 18,000 soldiers, and the division chaplain's office is
responsible for religious activities as well as supervision of more than 25
chaplains.
	
Only 14 of the nearly 200 Army chaplains in Europe are United Methodists,
but they are making an impact on thousands of lives.
	
"Kuhlbars and Gerber are definitely not paper-pushers," said the Rev.
Mitchell Lewis, deputy staff chaplain, 284th Base Support Battalion and
clergy member of the North Georgia Annual Conference. Lewis serves in
Babenhausen, Germany, and is an endorsed member of the Section of Chaplains
and Related Ministries, United Methodist Board of Higher Education and
Ministry.
	
"Both chaplains are actively involved in hands-on ministry with soldiers,
family members, and the ministry teams they supervise," Lewis said.
	
Many of the United Methodist chaplains are assigned to combat units. They
live in the field where their units are deployed, and share the joys and
hardships of life as a soldier. Chaplains however, face the dangers of
combat without weapons. The only defenses they carry are crosses pinned to
their uniforms.
	
"When you're cold, wet, muddy, tired and hungry, and the end of the mission
is not in sight, it's often easier to see the hardships than the joys,"
Lewis said.

Lewis is completing his fourth year of ministry in the European theater. The
two assignments he's had are different, both militarily and
organizationally, but they have given him ample opportunity to be what the
United Methodist Book Discipline calls a "pastor."

"I preach, teach, administer the sacraments and engage people in spiritual
conversation," he said. "I've baptized and buried both infants and adults.
I've celebrated weddings for those in love and counseled those contemplating
divorce.  . . . I've advised . . . those wrestling with the tension between
the military and Christian faith. I've been with individuals and families
during times of great triumph and tragedy, and together we've experienced
the presence of God."

United Methodist chaplains serve as a reminder to church members in the
military of home and spiritual values, Lewis said, but they also "bring the
ministry of our church to those who don't know it, and who don't know the
God who called us into his service. Sometimes that happens in a chapel.
Sometimes it happens in the field. Sometimes it happens in a home or an
office or a motor pool.

"We are pastors. We are missionaries. We are soldiers. We are United
Methodist chaplains, representing Christ and the United Methodist Church in
the U.S. Army, Europe."

Not all United Methodist chaplains serve with combat troops. 

Steve Zinser is family life chaplain for the 104th Area Support Group in Bad
Kreuznach, Germany. His ministry involves training other chaplains in family
therapy and conducting marriage and family counseling.
	
The Armed Forces Network regularly broadcasts Zinser's "The Family Chaplain"
spots. Each one-minute broadcast, repeated several times daily, points
families to strategies for success. The broadcasts reach thousands every day
and touch the lives of military personnel and family members stationed in
Europe.
	
Several United Methodist chaplains are responsible for geographic areas in
Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands.
	
United Methodist chaplains in Europe remain connected with the church. One
of their links is the Rev. Sonja-Waldmann Bohn, a missionary with the United
Methodist Board of Global Ministries, who works in Frankfurt, Germany. Bohn
is responsible for English-language ministries in Europe and publishes a
quarterly newsletter called The Connection.
	
The chaplains gather together in the spring for a spiritual retreat with the
German bishop and in the fall for a family retreat with United Methodist
missionaries and other church members living in Europe. Nearly 100 people --
military and civilian, clergy and laity, youth and adult -- attended the
last family retreat. A highlight of the retreat was a confirmation service,
a rare opportunity for United Methodist youth in Europe. 
	
The United Methodist Church supports such events with funding and staff.
Leading the fall retreat were the Rev. Pat Barrett of the Section of
Chaplains and Related Ministries (SRCM); the Rev. Michele-Sue
Shumake-Keller, a member of the board and chair of SCRM from the Division of
Ordained Ministry; and Bishop Ernest Lyght of the New York Area.
	# # #
*Gilbert is a staff member of the Office of Interpretation, United Methodist
Board of Higher Education and Ministry.

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