Merry Christmas

A Capella

The story of St. Martin of Tours tells how Martin, when he was a soldier, shared his cloak with a beggar who was cold. The story goes he had a dream the same night in which Christ revealed to Martin, it was Christ whom he clothed. Symbolically, the cape or cloak was later carried into battle by Frankish priests for their kings to represent the holy. [1] They were known as keepers of the cloak (capella), or chaplains and around them mass would be held.

For me, the presence of Christ Jesus cannot be divorced from one of the ugliest realities of fallen humanity, war. The role of the Chaplain is to provide spiritual presence. It is one way God’s prevenient grace is at work in the world. All people are called to love God and love others. All people are called to live lives of service using the gifts and graces God gives them. The call to ordained ministry is scripturally and traditionally based upon God calling out of the community of believer’s men and women to serve the community. To serve by proclaiming and teaching the Word of the Lord, by caring for God’s people, by guarding what is holy, and by administering the sacraments. Primarily within our western social context this call is fulfilled within the community, within the local Church congregation.

The call to chaplaincy is a call to do so in similar and different ways. Chaplaincy is similar to traditional pastoral ministries in that the minister is called to serve believers by proclaiming and teaching the Word of the Lord, by caring for God’s people, by guarding what is holy, and by administering the sacraments. It is the primary function of a Christian military chaplain to provide for Christians. In scripture and throughout history when war has occurred God has sent priests and pastors to care for those in harms way. My understanding of my primary duty as a military chaplain is to be a Nazarene pastor who cares for protestant Christians. Chaplaincy is different in that the chaplain is to live and work in an institutional and pluralistic setting. The institutional demands on a military chaplain call for the chaplain to be an ethical and moral advisor, as well as to facilitate spiritual care for all military personal. What a Christ-like task to be God's love to all people despite religion or ethnicity! It is a tension only to be lived out by the grace of God.

One significant passage of scripture shaping my understanding of ministry is 2 Corinthians 5:16-21:

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (TNIV)

I understand my call to chaplaincy ministries as being an ambassador and reconciler for Christ. It is my desire to walk along side men and women who are willing to lay down their lives for others and to provide pastoral care, to share the gospel, and to reconcile as much as is possible the evil and awful realities of the world we live in. It is a call to listen, to grieve, to support, to be the very presence of God in the midst of national agendas, institutional realities, and the horrors of war. It is a call to be a capella.
[1] The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd Ed.

3883+ Families to be Held in Prayer

US Military Deaths in Iraq at 3,883
By The Associated Press – 17 hours ago

As of Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007, at least 3,883 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians. At least 3,163 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers as of Friday.

The AP count is the same as the Defense Department's tally, last updated Tuesday at 10 a.m. EST.

The British military has reported 173 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia, three; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, South Korea, one death each.

Since the start of U.S. military operations in Iraq, 28,629 U.S. service members have been wounded in hostile action, according to the Defense Department's weekly tally.

Called to Serve

We are awaiting orders. As of September we were endoresed by the Church for military chaplaincy, and as of November we were approved by the U.S. Navy for active duty. So now we wait. Though our orders were issued a few years ago, as God began forming in us the work we would be called to do. Vocati Ad Servitium is the motto for the Navy's Chaplain Corps. Literally it means "called to serve" and I cannot think of a better descriptive for what Sarah and I have experienced over the past few years. We have been called to provide pastoral care for those who serve in the military. We ask for your prayers as we move forward in this calling. We also thank all of you who have encouraged us and prayed for us during this time of preparation.

Pax Christi--jdw