wfn.org | Army chaplains represent holy in times of war, peace

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Oct. 25, 2002  News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert7(615)742-54707Nashville,
Tenn.	10-71BP{489}

NOTE: The Chaplain Officer Basic Course is a 12-week program that prepares
men and women to be U.S. Army chaplains. It is held at the Fort Jackson Army
post in South Carolina twice a year - in the summer and winter. UMNS news
writer Kathy Gilbert and news photographer Mike DuBose spent time with five
United Methodists going through the course. Photos and a sidebar #490 are
available with this feature.

First to pray! Chaplains lead the way!
-- Class slogan for the summer 2002 Chaplain Officer Basic Course at Fort
Jackson, S.C.

A UMNS Feature
By Kathy L. Gilbert

It's dark at 5 a.m. The oppressive heat of a South Carolina summer day
hasn't hit yet, but it will.

The 60-plus men and women enrolled in the Army Chaplain Officer Basic Course
on this August morning are running, doing push-ups, sit-ups and flutter
kicks and shouting, "We like it! We love it! We want some more of it! Make
it hurt, drill sergeant, make it hurt!" And from 5 to 6 a.m., he does.

United Methodist pastors line up next to Catholic priests, Jewish rabbis,
Muslim imams and other chaplains-in-training representing more than 20 faith
groups. Everyone looks alike in the PT (physical training) gear - black gym
shorts and gray T-shirts. They range in age from early their 20s to early
60s. They are assembled on a grassy field, obeying the commands of Sgt. 1st
Class James S. Stewart.

These men and women have been called by God to serve as "representatives of
the holy," often in the most unholy of places. Their congregation consists
of soldiers and Army families.

Many come to the Army Chaplain Officer Basic Course with no military
experience. These men and women go from being leaders of congregations to
being told when to eat and sleep and how to dress. They come in not knowing
how to put their boots on, and in 12 weeks they are trained to be Army
officers. 

"We take the cream of the crop, the best, and they come here and we tell
them, 'Don't take any initiative, do what we tell you to do.' The first
thing they have to learn is how the Army does things," says Chaplain Maj. Jo
Ann Mann, an instructor at the Fort Jackson U.S. Army Chaplain Center and
School.

Dressed in green and gray camouflage they look just like any other soldiers,
but with a big difference: Instead of a gun by their side, they wear emblems
of their faith on their collars. And they will not be carrying weapons on
the battlefield.

Chaplains are trained to "perform or provide, cooperate without compromise,
and do anything for the good of the solider," says Chaplain Col. Samuel J.T.
Boone, deputy commander of the center and school.

Chaplains perform or provide religious services for their troops. If a
soldier's need falls outside the realm of the chaplain's particular faith
group, appropriate religious leadership is found.

During Desert Storm, Baptist chaplains dug a foxhole in the middle of the
desert, filled it with water and baptized soldiers.

In the Gulf War, a rabbi was put on a ship and sent out to sea so Jewish
soldiers could come in boats to celebrate Passover.

In Kosovo and Bosnia, Muslim soldiers were able to observe their holy days
with appropriate leadership.

Chaplains are the ones handed personal letters, wedding rings and last
wishes to convey to family members. Chaplains bless helicopters before
takeoff for the battlefield. Chaplains must be tactically and technically
proficient. And chaplains are trained to help people die. 

"Out in the battlefield, chaplains become the most valuable player," says
Chaplain Lt. Col. Charles Howell, chief of officer training at the school.

"Burying the dead is the heart and soul of Army chaplaincy," says Chaplain
Maj. Peter A. Baktis, while teaching a class on military funerals.

At the Fort Jackson center and school, the mission is: "To train newly
accessioned active- duty National Guard and Army Reserve chaplains and
chaplain candidates in their initial course of combat-focused,
critical-task-driven training to prepare them for ministry at battalion
level."

Pastors, preachers, priests, rabbis, imams and others work side by side.
They learn combat survival and how to serve as special staff officers. They
train in 41 chaplain-specific critical tasks and are equipped for
deployment.

Five chaplains in last summer's course last summer were United Methodists.

'A sense of call'

Chaplain Capt. Edward H. Franklin Jr., an ordained elder in the South
Carolina Annual (regional) Conference, has a quick and easy smile. In a room
full of fellow chaplains, you hear his laughter and sense the ease with
which he relates to people. He is a natural leader who is reverent when
talking about his beliefs and love for the United Methodist Church and the
Army.

"God has instilled within me a sense of call to serve as an Army chaplain
and to truly make a difference in the lives of soldiers and their families
as they endeavor to serve our country," he says.

The Army and the church are intertwined in his life. He is the son of a
United Methodist pastor, and like a lot of children of pastors, never
thought he would go into the ministry. He served as an officer with 3/37
Armor (a tank battalion) in the 1st Infantry Division in Desert Storm. After
leaving the Army, he pursued a civilian career before beginning the
discernment process for ministry. He was ordained a deacon in 1996 and an
elder in 1998. He served Walnut Grove United Methodist Church in Roebuck,
S.C., for four years before answering the call to return to the Army as a
chaplain.

"I have people ask me 'why are you leaving the ministry?' I am not leaving
the ministry," he emphasizes. "Army chaplaincy is a valid and much-needed
ministry. People in the pews, the pulpit and the (bishop's) cabinet need to
hear that."

Franklin is married and has three children, ages 9, 6 and 2. After his
training, he began active duty at Fort Sill in Oklahoma. He has been on the
front line before and doesn't really want to see war up close again. But he
has no doubt about his call or his duty.

"A chaplain ministers to those who are fighting for our country," he says.
"They are my family. If they are going, why not me?"

Still in ministry

Like Franklin, Chaplain 1st Lt. Ernest P. West Jr. has prior experience with
the military. An ordained elder from the West Virginia Annual Conference, he
served in his state's National Guard from 1987 to 1992. He was serving as
pastor at Calvary United Methodist Church, Potomac Highlands District before
joining the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps. He is now on active duty at Fort
Campbell, Clarksville, Tenn.

He has also struggled with those who think he has left the ministry and he
often feels his church does not understand his calling.

"It fills me with reverence to think about kids - 18, 19, 20 years old -
willing to give their all, their lives for their country," says West, a
tall, soft-spoken man. "It is a holy opportunity to share the Good News with
them." He too emphasizes,  "I didn't leave the church."

He has a 13-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter.

Holding her own

2nd Lt. Jayme L. Kendall is the youngest of the group and the only woman.
She has bright blue eyes and a soft smile. A seminary student at Asbury
Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky. and a member of the West Michigan
Conference, she holds her own in a setting that is not always accepting of
women as pastors or soldiers. She is also the daughter of a United Methodist
pastor who is an Army chaplain.

"I felt called into ministry while I was a freshman in college. I called
home and told my dad I was changing my major and thinking about ministry,
and he says, 'Do you want to be a pastor?'

"At that time, I didn't even know women could be pastors," she says,
laughing. Her father assured her she could be, and he led her through
Scripture and talked to her about her call.

Her father also encouraged her to think about the military. She decided to
enlist, and then she applied to be a chaplain assistant. 

Chaplain assistants work with chaplains in a ministry unit team. They assist
in preparing for religious services, perform administrative duties and bear
arms. They protect the chaplain, who does not bear arms.

"I am really glad I have the experience as a chaplain assistant and in being
part of a ministry unit team," Kendall says. "I know all the chaplains in
Michigan and the assistants. It has really let me get experience and see if
this is what I really want to do."
 
She feels the Lord's hand has been in everything she has done. She is in
seminary and must graduate and serve as a pastor for three years before she
can go into active duty as a chaplain. 

Some chaplains at the training center are in denominations that do not
ordain women as pastors. Because of their beliefs, they cannot participate
in a worship service with a woman. 

Mann explains how the Army accommodates those beliefs. "Some chaplains may
not share a pulpit with other chaplains, because of their denomination's
theology, but we share in performing and providing ministry together. We
have two symbols on our collars. One is the cross (or faith group symbol)
and the other is our rank, and that must be respected.	We are officers and
colleagues working together for the same goal."

Homeland security

Chaplain 1st Lt. Jeffrey S. Harper is in the National Guard and will return
to his two-point charge in McComb, Ohio. He is an ordained elder from the
West Ohio Conference.

Chaplain 1st Lt. Robert D. Crawford is a "weekend warrior" in the Army
Reserves and an ordained elder in the North Georgia Conference.

"The difference between reserve and guard is that National Guard (personnel)
are also under the authority of the governors of their respective states and
can be mobilized to help with state disasters," Crawford explains. "They
also are on the front of homeland security. The reserve is under the direct
authority of the president (federal). We can be brought to active duty and
be deployed in a conflict situation for up to two years."

Crawford has 18 years' experience as a parish pastor and is still a clergy
member of the North Georgia Conference. However, he is taking time off to
complete a master's degree in business at Georgia Tech University.

Called to this ministry

Franklin, West, Kendall, Harper and Crawford have answered a call from God
to serve the church and the men and women in the U.S. Army. They will
introduce soldiers to Christ, perform their weddings, baptize their children
and preach their funerals. 

"God has allowed me to serve both as a soldier and as a pastor as a means of
preparing me for the challenge of being a chaplain," Franklin says. "During
my time as a soldier, I learned the rigors and rewards of Army life both in
peace and in war. God has prepared me to be a spiritual leader for today's
military family."

Army chaplains are "representatives of the holy," wherever they are called
to serve.

# # #

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org