Turning to Your Chaplain

Overview

Understanding your chaplain's role and responsibilities.

The mission of military chaplains
Chaplaincy qualifications
Your chaplain's duties
Contacting your chaplain
Other resources

Military chaplains have been around since colonial times when militias took local ministers to war with them. Today the chaplain is still a vital member of the U.S. military. Chaplains have the responsibility of caring for the spiritual well-being of service members and their families during peacetime and war. This article will help you better understand the role of your chaplain and how a chaplain can help you and your family.

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The mission of military chaplains

Your military chaplain is a member of the commander's staff and serves as spiritual advisor to the commander as well as to the troops and their families. Chaplains go where the troops go. They're in the barracks, training areas, offices, and combat zones providing religious guidance and encouraging words, and serving as sources of comfort in stressful situations. Chaplains also preach, teach, and counsel.

Your military chaplain is also a facilitator of ministry to all faiths. Chaplains serve people of denominations and faiths that may be different from their own. Consequently, they must understand and respect other religions. During their military basic-orientation training, new military chaplains learn about different world religions and how to effectively and respectfully respond to the spiritual needs of followers of different faiths.

A person doesn't have to profess a faith at all to engage the chaplain in discussion about any life situation. The chaplain is there to help all service members and their families.

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Chaplaincy qualifications

Your military chaplain is a commissioned officer who is also an ordained minister, priest, pastor, imam, or rabbi. In addition, chaplains:

Are clergy of their particular denomination or faith group.
Are qualified spiritually, morally, intellectually, and emotionally to serve in this capacity.
Are sensitive to religious differences and are able to provide for the free exercise of religion by all.
Possess a master of divinity degree or an equivalent graduate degree in theological studies -- as well as a bachelor's degree.

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Your chaplain's duties

Your chaplain's first obligations are to active-duty service members and their family members. These obligations include:

Conducting worship and administering sacraments. Chaplains are responsible for making sure that people have the opportunity to worship in the manner in which they choose. This means that chaplains conduct worship services and administer sacraments in the manner in which they are accustomed, and that they also seek out accommodations for persons of other faiths.

For example, a Protestant chaplain can't in good conscience perform a Mass for Roman Catholics. The chaplain facilitates by getting a Roman Catholic chaplain or "lay Eucharistic minister (LEM)" to administer the sacrament.

Performing other religious ceremonies and services. Chaplains also perform religious rites and ceremonies such as marriages and funeral or memorial services. The chaplain is also expected to have expertise in premarital counseling and grief counseling.
Counseling. While chaplains are not clinical counselors, they are often called on to help people with various life challenges -- including issues related to combat stress, deployment, marriage, profession, family, substance abuse, and finances. This type of counseling falls under the heading of "pastoral care."

Chaplains are expected to be knowledgeable about the basics of various personal issues. However, they are also expected to be able to refer individuals to other counseling sources when they don't feel qualified or can't counsel for some other reason.

Visitation. Regular visitation to injured or sick service members (at home or in the hospital) is another task of the military chaplain. Through this one-on-one contact, the chaplain can offer comfort, spiritual support, and pastoral care to those recuperating from illness or injury.
Moral, ethical, and spiritual advising. The chaplain serves as advisor to the commander on all matters of morality, integrity, and religion, which can include:
meeting the religious needs of assigned personnel.
assessing the spiritual, ethical, and moral climate of the command.
planning and programming related to the moral and ethical quality of leadership, the care of people, religious education, and related funding issues associated with religious programming within the command.
overseeing the construction of religious facilities.
publicizing religious program activities.
Developing religious education programs and youth activities. At the installation, the chaplain provides religious instruction and is responsible to the commander for religious education programs such as Sunday-school classes and youth programs. Chaplains also train lay leaders who conduct religious education programs.
Conducting seminars and retreats. Chaplains conduct seminars and retreats for the moral, spiritual, and social development of service members and their families. Seminar topics may include:
marriage enrichment
parenting skills
spiritual-leadership training
service member transition from combat operation
anger management
spiritual formation for youth and adults
Instructing chaplains and chaplain assistants. Your installation chaplain also plans, conducts, assesses, monitors, and supports the training of all subordinate chaplains, as well as chaplain assistants or Religious Program specialists (RPs). A chaplain assistant/RP prepares the designated worship area where the chaplain will conduct divine worship services. The chaplain assistant/RP is a combatant and serves as the chaplain's bodyguard in hostile environments.
Accompanying service members into combat. Chaplains must be willing to go into combat situations with service members. The chaplain is a noncombatant and carries no weapon. Chaplains often inspire service members by accompanying the unit in harm's way, armed only with their faith in God.
Combat stress intervention. By implementing a comprehensive battle-fatigue ministry, your ministry team forms an important component of the commander's program of combat stress control. This team provides immediate support to leaders in fulfilling their combat stress identification and intervention responsibilities. The team also helps train leaders in the chain of command to recognize combat stress symptoms. They train others in basic counseling skills that can enable service members to communicate their stress. Chaplains work very closely with military medicine personnel in training and treatment related to this important issue.

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Contacting your chaplain

To contact a chaplain, begin with your unit chaplain. If a referral is needed, your unit chaplain can help. If you don't live near a military installation, contact the closest one and ask for assistance. Military OneSource at 1-800-342-9647 or at www.militaryonesource.com can also help you find your unit chaplain.

If you're looking for a chaplain to assist with funeral or memorial services, ask your local funeral director to help you coordinate this. Most funeral directors have contact numbers for nearby military installations or for a Veterans Administration (VA) office that can help arrange military burial honors -- including the services of a chaplain -- for eligible veterans and retirees.

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Other resources

Your military support services

Each service branch sponsors information and support programs for service members and their families. You can call or visit any installation Army Community Service Center, Marine Corps Community Services, Fleet and Family Support Center, or Airman and Family Readiness Center regardless of your branch affiliation.

If you aren't near an installation, National Guard Family Assistance Centers are available in every state. The Local Community Resource Finder on the National Guard Family Program site at www.guardfamily.org will identify your closest center.

Military OneSource

This free 24-hour service is available to all active duty, Guard, and Reserve members (regardless of activation status) and their families. Consultants provide information and make referrals on a wide range of issues, including issues related to parenting, deployment, and reintegration. Free face-to-face counseling sessions (and their equivalent by phone or online) are also available. Call 1-800-342-9647 or go to www.MilitaryOneSource.com to learn more.

This article was written with the help of Captain Lorenzo Cooper York, CHC, USN, Assistant to the Chief of Navy Chaplains for Public Affairs.

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