Chaplaincy
I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. ~ 1 Cor 3:6-7
Oh, what of that, and what of that? ~ Martin Franzmann, LSB 586
This article about the role of chaplains in these latter days is food for thought.
As fewer and fewer people - particularly young people - come to our churches to seek spiritual care, they are increasingly turning to chaplains: military, fire, law enforcement, institutional, and even those who serve in airports. The article points out that chaplains may be of any faith tradition - including non-Christian religions - and also include women. If we in the LCMS don’t involve ourselves in this kind of contact with people who have often been raised with no religion at all, then others will.
Some of my brother LCMS pastors may be turned off to chaplaincy because it isn’t pastoral ministry. It isn’t the congregational ministry of Word and Sacrament. It isn’t Christian evangelism. It isn’t an outreach program for your church. But it is seed-planting. It is an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to slip in through the cracks in the spiritual doorway that has still not been slammed shut by our secular culture.
Chaplains often encounter people in times of crisis. If the individuals under your chaplaincy care happen to be Lutheran, then you can minister to them in the usual way in perhaps unusual circumstances and encourage them to get pastoral care from their own shepherds. If they are Christians, you can comfort them with Scripture and the Gospel and prayer in the name of Jesus. If they are of another religious body, you can show Christian compassion and pray for them even if you cannot bring the Word of God directly to bear on them (apart from their stated desire). If they are non-believers who are not hostile to religion (as many people are these days), you can plant a small seed to show them that the anti-Christian propaganda that they have heard is not true. You can show mercy and love and compassion. They will likely never visit your church. But they may well develop a curiosity that may bring them into contact with the Word of God down the road. But if the chaplain is a Muslim instead of a Christian pastor, that person may feel led to the Koran instead of the Bible.
There are many kinds of chaplaincy service. Some are full-time calls. Some are not calls but are full-time paid jobs. Some are part-time. Some are voluntary and unpaid but may involve endorsement of an agency of Synod. Some are informal and have nothing to do with Synod. Some require a large time commitment, and others very little.
Personally, I serve four chaplaincies covering quite a range of situations with varying degrees of involvement: Fire, Community, Civil Air Patrol, and Educational.
Fire Chaplaincy
I was asked to be the chaplain of our local volunteer fire company in 2011. I have served ever since. Being a private company, this did not require any kind of approval on the part of Synod (Synod rules require endorsement for serving as a chaplain in government agencies). The company did not require any denominational endorsement. They had recently had a firefighter killed in the line of duty, and they wanted to bring the chaplaincy away from the honorary status that it had been and move it to a more active role. The incoming president asked for recommendations, and one of the firemen knew me and contacted me. Although I had no idea what I was signing up for, I agreed.
My fire chaplaincy initially consisted only of attending monthly meetings and opening the meetings with prayer. As I attended regularly and as I got to know the guys, they paid for a dress uniform for me to attend formal events. They sent me to some training. In time, I was given an app on my phone to be alerted of fires and other calls. I try to make every “roll” that I am able. Sometimes they are in the middle of the night. Most of the time, they are not actual fires, and when they are, they are usually minor. But sometimes they are major conflagrations that rage on for hours, with the firefighters exhausting themselves battling the blaze. Sometimes we are called to traffic accidents amid police sirens, ambulances, and shattered glass. Sometimes the victims don’t survive.
The fire service is highly stressful, and often the men will speak to the chaplain rather than even their own pastors (though I always encourage them to do so). Often, they don’t have a pastor. Fire chaplaincy also allows spiritual care to be given to victims of fires or accidents. It may be nothing more than words of comfort, or even just being present and showing compassion. It may take the form of prayer, or the offer to get in touch with the victim’s pastor. Chaplains give care to anyone in need. And people in need almost always really do appreciate it.
Community Chaplaincy
I also serve as the chaplain (and board member) of my city’s Community Association. We have public meetings every other month and board meetings in between. These are typically opportunities for various organizations to visit our community and speak to citizens. I open the meetings with prayer. Our Historical Society has no formal chaplaincy, but the opening prayer and the blessing of the meal are typically rotated between me and the local Roman Catholic priest (who also serves with me at the fire company). As a result, I’m well-known in the community and have had many opportunities to minister directly to people who have no pastor, or to show love and support to people in our community who actually are are plugged into a local church, but still appreciate prayers and encouragement. I have been involved in this kind of community chaplaincy for about ten years.
Military and Civil Air Patrol Chaplaincy
The LCMS is, of course, involved in military chaplaincy. Our military chaplains are active or reserve members of the armed forces, and are paid non-combatant commissioned officers in the armed services. This requires a call and endorsement from the LCMS Ministry to the Armed Forces.
As Chaplain (Colonel) Jonathan Shaw says, “Military chaplains walk side by side with those who serve in the profession of arms, even in the valley of the shadow. These chaplains give soldiers full Word, Sacrament, and pastoral care support in concert with the larger chaplain team, cooperating without compromising.”
One form of military chaplaincy that I participate in is auxiliary service. I serve as a Civil Air Patrol (CAP) chaplain. CAP is the US Air Force Auxiliary. CAP chaplains must receive endorsement from the Ministry to the Armed Forces, but we are exempted from the military rules regarding age and fitness requirements. The military grooming standards regarding hair and beards are optional - which affects only the kind of uniforms that we may wear.
CAP chaplains work with our cadets (aged 12-20) and our adult Senior Members. We teach a Character Development curriculum once a month. We open and close the meetings with prayer. We report directly to the squadron commander and are available for advice and counsel to the commander and to all members. We participate in training and in live missions (CAP provides 85% of the Air Force’s inland rescue missions). We are involved in post-disaster relief work, aerial photography, and damage assessment.
In 2018, we saved 158 lives, recorded 712 “finds” in search and rescue missions, logged 89,773 flight hours, and impacted over 700,000 youth with our educational materials. Although we are older than the U.S. Air Force itself, we may be America’s best kept secret.
CAP chaplains - with few exceptions - must have Master’s degrees (such as an MDiv) and are assigned the rank of Captain upon completing some basic training that is done online. With ongoing training and service, chaplains can be promoted up to the grade of Lieutenant Colonel. In certain situations, CAP chaplains may volunteer to be billeted with a local Air Force unit and serve as a volunteer military chaplain. CAP chaplains are highly regarded and respected. We get to train young people, and hang out with pilots. As volunteers, we can be involved as much or as little as time allows. CAP chaplains are not under orders nor subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. We are under a private chain of command, though we are considered Airmen in the Total Force. When we are on missions, we are acting under the auspices of the Air Force. The Coast Guard also has a similar Auxiliary program, and they too need chaplains!
The opportunity is there! CAP has local squadrons all over the country. I believe that I am one of only eight chaplains in the Louisiana Wing. I’m the only LCMS chaplain in our state. At a training academy, I was permitted to conduct a Lutheran worship service for anyone who wished to attend. We are never required to conduct interfaith or syncretistic services if it goes against our conscience or confession. Most squadrons have no chaplain, but really want one. If you want more information about CAP chaplaincy, please contact me! CAP is also an extraordinary opportunity for young people, and it is a way that your entire family can serve together. If you are interested in active or reserve military chaplaincy, talk to one of our military chaplains (such as our Gottesdienst editor Chaplain (Colonel) Shaw), or contact the Ministry to the Armed Forces for more information.
Educational Chaplaincy
Schools and universities often have chaplaincies - both within the LCMS and externally. In my own experience, I have been a teacher for Wittenberg Academy (an accredited classical Lutheran school and RSO) since 2014. At the beginning of this school year, I was tapped to also serve as the chaplain. My responsibilities involve writing daily devotions, leading a weekly online Vespers service and preaching, interviewing potential employees, providing worship services at retreats, having conversations as needed with students and faculty, and theologically reviewing newsletters and publications.
Of all of my chaplaincies, this one is the most closely-related to my parish work, and is explicitly Lutheran. I’m blessed because Wittenberg Academy is unabashedly Lutheran, classical, and liturgical. Beware that other institutions in our synod may have other expectations. Your mileage may vary.
Other Types of Chaplaincies
Our city started a police chaplaincy. I was tempted to take that on, but time and the additional work in getting Synod endorsement led me to do so at this time. But I know several LCMS pastors who do serve as law enforcement chaplains, and like the fire service, the work is unpredictable and can involve ministering to people under extraordinary stress and in emergency situations.
Some pastors are able to serve as hospice and nursing home chaplains, and these are generally paid positions and require not only denominational endorsement (in the case of the LCMS, through Specialized Pastoral Ministry), but typically require Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) training as part of the endorsement. There are indeed airport chaplains and other various types of chaplaincy that I’m unfamiliar with. If this interests you, by all means, look into it!
One resource that I found helpful was a book written by LCMS pastor and chaplain, the Rev. Fr. Dean Kavouras called The Word Works. It is out of print, but copies are out there. My involvement in the fire service led me to outstanding training at a reduced cost through the state’s fire chaplain network. In addition to course work specifically for the fire service, I was also able to take all three Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) courses, and receive university-level certification at a greatly reduced cost. This training, of course, benefits parish ministry as well.
Similarly, CAP offers training not only in chaplaincy, but in Emergency Services and various other paths of service, from serving on an air or ground team, to ranger training, to specialist in Aerospace Education, to Public Affairs, to working with youth in the Cadet Programs, and much more.
But the greatest part of chaplaincy isn’t what we receive, but what we give. It is serving those who serve. It is the opportunity to be a blessing to our neighbor, our community, and our nation. To non-Christians, we can offer compassion and our prayers. To Christians, we can offer the consolation of the Word of God. To Lutherans, we can offer Word and Sacrament ministry in concord with a person’s pastor back home. Regardless of the circumstances, we are planting seeds.
And even if we never find out what happens to the seed, the sower continues to sow - and what of that?