CHAPLAINS: Can you compare and contrast military vs. civilian ministry?

As a civilian pastor I had great difficulty ministering to the 18-25 year olds. They usually leave home for the military or college and many times drift away from God/church. Once they get married and have a couple of children they may come back to the church. I love military ministry for the fact that I'm around this demographic on a daily basis. I have the privilege of ministering to these Soldiers and their families whether in the unit or the chapel bringing God to Soldiers and Soldiers to God!

Military chaplaincy is mostly like young adult youth ministry with guns.

This is a great question. I think it takes a very special person to be a military Chaplain. They are part in some very unique situations. I recall speaking often to my first Chaplain. I thought of him as a great man of faith. One day came to see me to tell my that my friend that was in another city in Iraq was killed in combat. It was hard to hear that. I still remember that conservation very well. As hard as it was to hear I imagine it was harder to say it. He flew from Mosul to my location knowing that he was only coming to bring the bad news. I profoundly respect the man. I have yet to see another Chaplain on his level. So many act like civilian pastors and not like Chaplains.

CH (CPT) Beaver, all Chaplains are different, and some like myself came in the Military at 17 years old. Chaplains are to be honest brokers, and stand on what is right and not have a biased view. In my thirty years of being in the Military, my hard ships and lessons learned have shaped me to be the Chaplain that I am.

Listen to all
Be an Advocate for all

A wise Chaplain told me that at times there is one Chapel and all come to worship Let it not be about you!!

AR-165-1 provides guidance on how Chaplains are to minister to all in a pluralistic environment.

I am not a Chaplain, nor Chaplains assistant, but I can say this....I find Military Chaplains easier to talk to than I do civilian Chaplains. I don't know why, but I will go to a Chaplain in uniform before I will one that is not.

When I was in seminary as a Chaplain Candidate we had an Army Chaplain (COL) come and speak to us. I'll never forget what he said: In the civilian parish your Church Board doesn't require you to step on a scale and run 2 miles every year in order to keep your 'call.'

I love the question, however I think you have to "tweek" it a little, because as the question stands, you're comparing two entirely different worlds because civilian ministry has so much wider of a scope. Civilian ministry of course has a pastoral context in a denominational institutional setting, however it also encompasses chaplaincy in many different venues.

I am a late vocations Orthodox Christian priest (post-military retirement). I have been the pastor of a church, *AND* a Level One Trauma Center night shift chaplain. Chaplains involved in a crisis ministry MUST evolve their ministry tools much like that of the combat military chaplain. To hone my ministerial toolbox for the trauma center I focused my professional reading on combat military chaplains because of my perception of the closeness of their roles. 'Ministry in the pew' is nothing like ministry in a crisis situation where there is the traumatic injury (or death) to a loved one (Police and Fire Chaplains also minister in this crisis mode).

Additionally, the Trauma Center Chaplain (like the Police and Fire Chaplains) have those moments where there is no crisis, and then the ministry takes on building ministerial trust bonds to your flock... emergency first responders and the medical support crew. Building these trust bonds are ever so important because once the trust bond is built, you are clearly 'available' to the first responders and support staff as a trusted source to deal with their emotional trauma from the emotional roller coaster they just experienced in the course of their service to the trauma victim and the family and friends of the trauma victim...

Thus I believe that military chaplaincy and civilian chaplaincy can be closely linked together... and yet be as distant as they are from the traditional ministry in the pew.

Respectfully submitted...

I would tell civilian clergy, "I do nearly all the things you do, and a whole lot more." Institutional ministry is conventional pastoral care but with additional responsibilities of advising the command and deploying with troops as a member of the team. That's the short answer. Now as a civilian pastor I bring to my church the many lessons learned in the Army, which makes me a better shepherd of souls, both in my congregation and my community.

The biggest difference is the people that come to my church expect me to minister within my denomination. Yet in the military, I get to minister to people from varying denominations and faiths.

Ewwww this is a good one. I am interested to see the responses from these gentleman.