"God's Warriors," religion and the news media

At a time when the U.S. and the rest of the Western world is showing signs of finally connecting the dots between political events and religion, it is interesting that major newspapers and news magazines have continued to eliminate religion journalists positions. However, there seems to be an increase in the number of rather well-researched and objective religious reporting being done in some of the "mainstream" electronic media.

For example, Christiane Amanpour, the chief international correspondent for CNN, and perhaps one of the most familiar "faces" in evening news reports from Iraq and other locales in the Middle East, has now completed a much anticipated three-part religious series entitled "God's Warriors". It is being shown this week on CNN.

In the three-part series, Amanpour travels to six countries on four continents to report on the "intersection between religion and politics" and "the effect of Christianity, Islam and Judaism have on politics, culture and public life."

The CNN schedule indicates the following 9:00 PM EDT showings (but perhaps start-times may vary in different TV markets).
--Tues, Aug 21: "Jewish Warriors"
--Wed, Aug 22: "Muslim Warriors"
-- Thur, Aug 23: "Christian Warriors"

It will be interesting to see if this series sparks interest by other major networks to more intelligently and objectively discuss and report the intersection of politics and religion. And who knows, perhaps the print media might even consider re-establishing some of its religion journalist positions.

Police chaplain serves near Twin Cities bridge tragedy

The Rev. Deborah (Debbie) Brown is an Episcopal Church priest in the Diocese of Minnesota and for the past 12 years she has served alongside first-responders as a volunteer police chaplain.

So last Wednesday, August 1st, when the Interstate 35 West bridge collapsed in nearby Minneapolis - Saint Paul during evening rush hour killing at least five and and injuring many other motorists, Debbie prayerfully readied herself for whatever response her team might be called upon to offer.

In her role as the Chaplain Coordinator for the Eagan, Minnesota Police Department, Debbie supervises other chaplains and shares the volunteer ministry with them. Also, for the past five years, she has served on the Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) team which means she is trained and certified to assist in debriefing first responders and others who have experienced the trauma that often comes in police related work.

The Office of the Bishop Suffragan for Chaplaincies (where I serve at the Episcopal Church Center -- our denomination's national headquarters -- in New York City) our three-fold mission is to recruit, develop and support federal chaplains of our Church -- namely Federal Bureau of Prisons chaplains, Veterans Affairs Hospital chaplains, and military chaplains.

While our mission and work does not directly include "diocesan chaplains" such as Police Chaplain Debbie Brown, we do maintain a somewhat loose relationship with our brother and sister non-federal chaplains who serve under the oversight of their own local diocesan bishop as chaplains for local hospitals, correction facilities, police, firefighters, emergency medical responders, etc. Police Chaplain Debbie Brown serves under the watch-care of her local diocesan, Bishop James Jelinek.

When the Bishop Suffragan for Chaplaincies, the Rt. Rev. George Packard (my "boss") and I learned of the tragic bridge collapse, Bishop Packard who is currently temporarily away from New York City, asked me to check with Mr. Richard Ohlsen, the Episcopal Relief and Development's (ERD) director of Domestic Disaster Preparedness and Response, just three floors up from our offices.

I learned from Richard that he had already offered ERD assistance to Bishop Jelinek in Minnesota and was standing by for their response. I shared with him that our office database indicated there is one diocesan first-responder chaplain, Police Chaplain Debbie Brown, located in a community very near the collapsed bridge and that I would phone her to see if our office might support her in any way.

Concurrently, Bishop George Packard contacted Bishop Jelinek in Minnesota and assured him that while ERD's Domestic Disaster office would appropriately be the first point of contact and support for the diocese from the national church headquarters, his office in NYC would also be available to support him, his Police Chaplain Debbie Brown, and any of his clergy, should we be needed.

Since last Thursday, I have stayed in contact with Debbie by way of phone calls and emails. In a call I had with her late today she said the bridge situation is still quite fluid and the metro Minneapolis-St. Paul area is still trying to deal with the grief and unknowns of this sad event.

Debbie also said one of several hopeful and positive signs was the recent interfaith worship service that was coordinated by a committee of various area faith group leaders.

The service was held at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Minneapolis and attended by over 1,400 people from many of the metro area's religious traditions. Readers and prayer leaders came from Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Native American and Hispanic faith communities.

We all know from such events as the 9/11 attacks, the Katrina storm and floods, the recent deaths of nine firefighters in Charleston -- and of course the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- that grief and various other kinds of stress can impact communities, families, and individuals in many ways for weeks and sometimes for months and years.

Volunteer first-responder chaplains such as Deborah Brown in the Twin Cities and Rob Dewey in Charleston stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the victims, police, firefighters, EMT teams, families, and countless others touched by life's tragedies. Chaplains, other clergy and lay ministers become to many the incarnation symbol of God standing beside and walking with them in their confusion, pain and loss.

Caring for the emotional and physical wounds of wars

Conflicting feelings of pain and gratitude still linger as I reflect upon a recent journey to Texas to visit with chaplains at two two Veterans Affairs hospitals --one in Waco and the other in Temple--and one at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio:

--Pain for U.S. military service personnel who have been severely wounded in Iraq or in Afghanistan and still others from service prior to those two wars. I saw one young man, still healing from severe body and facial burns plus amputation, eating lunch in the dinning facility at Brooke Army and chatting with some fellow patients. I later saw him determinedly wheeling himself out the door and across the street back to the special, brand new Center for the Intrepid rehabilitation center where he, along with a host of others, spend many hours each week trying to prepare and figure out how to move forward into some kind of hopeful life.

--Gratitude for the VA and military hospital staffs who, with great compassion and expertise, faithfully assist veterans--young and old--to find some meaning, joy and hope in bodies and minds racked with damage and hurt; gratitude for New York real estate developer Arnold Fisher, who has invested his own time, energy, influence and millions of dollars into his family's Fisher House Foundation which provides housing at all major U.S. military medical facilities for family members who are visiting their wounded loved ones or for veterans returning for out-patient care. At Brooke Army Medical Center Mr. Fisher spearheaded a project allowing private donations (instead of government monies) to design and construct the Center for the Intrepid (CFI), a state-of-the-art rehabilitation center at Brooke.

--Gratitude for chaplains, especially our own Episcopal Church chaplain-priests at those three facilities --VA Chaplains Tom Rardin and Mark Wilburn in Waco and Temple, and Army Chaplain Phil Kochenburger in San Antonio--each with a heart and mind for caring for those struggling to find spiritual as well as medical support through the maze of coping and recovery.

Yes, I know that the odd mixture of pain and gratitude, not unlike like fear and love, are the stuff of life. Yet it all comes with such strong, in-your-face ambiguity when we see them in the faces of the scores of veterans and their loved ones who have been impacted by the violence of wars.

Oh dear God, how we pray for the peace of Jerusalem -- and Sudan, and Iraq, and Afghanistan, and all other places that need healing that only comes when God is allowed to save all our souls -- Muslims, Christians and Jews alike -- from hatred and power grabbing.

Finding Katterbach, Germany

When U. S. Army Chaplain David Waweru and his wife, Chaplain Christine Waweru, learned that they both had orders to detach from duty at Fort Hood in Kileen, Texas and report for chaplain service in Katterbach, Germany, they immediately began trying without success to find the town on a map of Germany.

They asked Army friends at Fort Hood, many of whom had been stationed in Germany, but no one knew Katterbach. Christine and David then began to really wonder about this mysterious garrison that no one seemed to have heard about.

Alas they bumped into a Lieutenant Colonel and his wife who had just returned to Texas from duty at Katterbach. This fine officer and his spouse excitingly assured the Wawerus that they were in for a wonderful place to live and serve. The LTC's spouse followed up with phone calls to Christine in which she provided helpful contacts in and around Katterbach and other information about their soon-to-be "home town" for three years.

Katterbach is located in Bavaria. The nearest somewhat-large city is Nurmberg -- site of the post WWII Holacaust trials. Katterbach is a small town very near the old and interesting small city of Ansbach. I drove the five-hour trip from Ramstein/Landstuhl on Saturday, May 5 to visit with the Wawerus at chapel on Sunday and to make chaplain rounds with them on Monday.

My compact visit included participating with the Wawerus in the Katterbach Chapel Liturgical (Episcopal Rite) Holy Eucharist where David and Christine are co-pastors. Their two fun-loving, spiritually-maturing sons, Baraka (17) and Imani (13), also serve faithfully in the chapel life. Baraka takes his turn as an usher and as a scripture reader; Imani plays percussion (gently, rhythemically playing the drums) and he substitutes as pianist when the regular keyboard person is away.

The Sunday afternoon Episcopal chapel-community lunch at the home of newly commissioned lay Worship Leader, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Crogan, and his wife Jackie; my Monday separate chaplain rounds with Christine then with David; and the Monday evening dinner-out with the Waweru family -- all allowed me see something of how this dedicated, faithful, happy family is making a positive difference in this relatively small military garrison community.

The Waweru chaplains along with their gifted, smart and athletic sons, have indeed found Katterbach, and as a result, Katterbach is a good deal better place to live and serve. They are gently, good-naturally and faithfully serviving God, the Episcopal Church and the U.S. peace makers/keepers and their families stationed here. Thanks be to God.

Serving out on the edge

Chaplains have a sense of adventure and an ability to serve "out on the edge." In fact a willingness to serve outside the relative stability of a local congregation is a basic requirement to be able to serve faithfully and effectively over the long haul as a chaplain.

All chaplains are expected and strongly encouraged to retain their connectedness to their home diocese and also with a local church and the local diocese where they are geographically assigned.

Before any chaplain is endorsed by Bishop George Packard, our Church's Bishop Suffragan for Chaplaincy, he/she is required to have had at least two years of service in parish-centered ministry. But a capacity to serve "outside the camp" of the local, settled-nature of congregational life is a must for any institutional chaplain whether it be in the military, in a hospital, in a prison, etc. (See my first column in this series.)

Chaplain Gerry Bebber and his wife Ilene are folk who don't blink when asked to serve in out of the ordinary places. Last year they were asked by the US Army Chaplain Corps assignment officer to once again to move to Alaska to serve -- this time at Fort Richardson, near Anchorage. Some years ago they served at a post near Fairbanks and fell in love with the "last frontier" state of Alaska. Recently they even purchased a small, rustic cabin three hours north of Anchorage in a pristine, scenic, sparsely populated area but near a main road. This is their spiritual and physical retreat cabin for now and maybe for their retirement years too.

Alaska is by far geographically the largest of any of the 50 U.S. states but with less than 700,000 inhabitants, it has in many ways remained a frontier wilderness of great beauty and quietness. Moose and other wildlife freely roam even near the few cities and towns.

I had an opportunity to visit Gerry and Ilene Bebber last month in their snow covered neighborhood and inside their very hospitable home. I made Sunday rounds with Gerry for chapel services and then on two weekdays which included witnessing him effectively lead the Monday morning chaplain staff meeting. His intentional warm, few-words-n0-nonsense yet laid back approach make him easy to relate with by those he serves in the post chapel communities, and during his garrison encounters with officers and enslisted personnel.

As a senior Lieutenant Colonel, one of Gerry's responsibilities is to supervise and mentor three junior chaplains and two enlisted chaplain assistants. He does it with steady grace and calmness. It is effident by the way the chapel team relates to him that he has earned their deep respect and trust.

Although he maintains contact, Gerry is far away from his home Diocese of Quincy, Illinois. But as an Army active duty (i.e. full time) chaplain he and Irene have almost always been geographically distanced from mid-America. Gerry's tours have not only included duties in the eastern, southern and Pacific northwest states, he also has spent time in the deserts of Kuwait and Iraq.

A willingness to live and serve "out on the edge" is one of the qualifications for serving in just about any chaplaincy context, but especially for the military chaplain. Gerry Bebber and his supportive and equally flexible dear wife Irene serve God and their Episcopal Church faithfully and well.

Like ministering to a parade as it passes by...

Referring to the highly mobile/transitory nature of life in the military and in VA hospitals, I once heard someone remark that "chaplain service is sort of like trying to minister to people in a parade as they pass by."

I recalled that word-picture as I continued my reflection upon some of our Episcopal Church chaplains whom I visited recently in the Pacific Northwest. In my previous blog/column I referred to chaplains as persons serving "outside the camp" --i.e. outside the more traditional locales of priestly ministry in a settled (at least somewhat) church, at a specific address, in a town or city.

Active duty Chaplain (Major) Beth Echols is a petite, smart, low-key, strong, look-you-in-the-eye, non-pretentious, caring priest, wife and mother of two. She is completing a Clinical Pastoral Education residency program at the large, sparkling Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis near Tacoma, Washington -- the hospital where she will serve for two to three follow-on years once her one-year CPE residency is soon completed.

Chaplain Echols (who is a priest with canonical ties to the "East Coast Washington" --as in DC/Southern Maryland) along with her supportive husband and two sharp kids, have fallen in love with the Tacoma/Olympia area so they are pleased with the prospects of staying longer.

Beth took me on a tour of the medical center which inadvertently allowed me to witness first hand, even on that relatively brief one-day visit, something of the impact a caring chaplain has on people's lives. At every turn we bumped into patients and staff (as well as fellow chaplains) who quickly recognized and greeted her. The manner and tone in which they addressed Beth indicated their appreciation and respect for her ministry.

For example, as we were leaving the hospital dining room following breakfast someone called out "Chaplain Echols, ma'am" and we both turned to see a tall, young soldier catching up with us. He said to Beth, "Chaplain I just want to thank you for coming to the critical care unit that evening to be with my wife and me and to baptize our baby." Chaplain Echols gave him a brief neck-hug and gently replied, "Thanks. I am glad I came too. " Nothing more was said. The young soldier turned and headed back to the dinning facility and we continued walking to the elevator.

Beth told me that the soldier's child had been in the intensive care unit possibly near death. The soldier and his wife asked the duty Protestant chaplain that night to please baptize their infant. That chaplain told the couple because of his faith-group's stance on baptism he couldn't baptize an infant but that he would phone the Episcopal chaplain and let them speak with her. They did and Beth drove back to the hospital (about a 20-mile trip one-way), spent time with the young, anxious couple and baptized their infant.

The transitory life of moving once every two to three years to a different military installation in the U.S. or overseas -- not to mention the family separation when the service member is deployed -- results in military individuals, couples, and their children, living far from the familiar support of family, hometown, and their minister, priest, rabbi or imam. A good chaplain, such as Beth, learns to step non-judgmentally into those precious moments along the "parade route," into the joys and pains and sometimes death, to serve as God's Presence -- God's hand, ear, heart and mind. Those chaplains are worth their weight in gold to the women, and men in uniform and to their families who travel in that parade "outside the camp".

Serving outside the gate, even sometimes on a garbage heap

When someone asks me : "What do chaplains do?" I respond: "They serve outside the gate."

After the questioner blinks his/her eyes a time or two as they wait to see where in the world I am going with that kind of answer, I proceed to say something like this:

"When U.S. military Reserve, National Guard and Active Duty chaplains-- as well as Federal Prison and Veterans Affairs hospital chaplains (or any other chaplains) --put on their respective uniforms with the cross insignia, they are following Jesus' example of being willing to go "outside the city gate" (Hebrews 13: 12).

The "outside the gate" in Hebrews is a clear reference to Golgotha Hill outside the gate and walls of Jerusalem. Golgotha in Jesus' day was known as the "place of the scull" (place of death) and the city's "garbage heap." It became one of the places where criminals were taken by the governing authorities to be placed on a cross and "hung-out" to die as a cruel and vivid warning to the rest of the population to "stay in line or else..."

Somewhat like within the walls of Jerusalem in Jesus' time, the local church today is a vital place of witness, worship, spiritual nourishment and service for Christians . The local congregation's role is invaluable. Yet the many places outside the gate today-- including the hospital ward, the prison block, the military installation, and even a war zone -- are important places of witness and service, and yes, places to promote peace and reconciliation.

In fact we all -- lay persons and ordained -- are challenged by the New Testament writer in the following verse with this: "Let us then go to him outside the camp and bear the abuse he endured" (Hebrews 13: 13). That's a pretty heavy demand!

Yet it gives a clear word-picture of where chaplains and committed lay persons serve -- outside the gate, outside the confines of the camp -- i.e. outside the local church congregation in a less clearly defined terrain.

In fact some folk ask, "What business does a chaplain or any other committed religious person have in such a messy, federal-government-policy-driven, politicized environment?" Perhaps that's a question for a later blog. For now I simply say: Yes chaplaincy takes place in a rather messy environment -- i.e. a risk-filled, line-blurred, grayish place to serve. But aren't we all called at the dismissal of each Holy Eucharist to "go in peace to love and serve the Lord" and doesn't that include any place where God's children are located -- a prison, a hospital, a military unit, etc.?

One of the responsibilities (and joys!) my "boss," Bishop George Packard, and I have is to provide pastoral support for our Church's federal chaplains and other chaplains who are serving "outside the gate."

Most recently I was privileged to visit some of our chaplains in the Pacific Northwest. My first stop was Portland, Oregon where I represented Bishop Packard at our Episcopal Church's Executive Council meeting. (The 38 lay and ordained members of Exec Council meet three times each year to carry out the programs and policies adopted by our Church's General Convention and oversee the ministry and mission of the Church.) In Portland I made our chaplaincy report to the Exec Council's National Concerns Committee which is most-ably chaired by Mr. John Vanderstar an outstanding lay person, retired lawyer, and one who has a supportive interest in the challenges of chaplaincy ministry.

While in Portland I had a delightful lunch-visit with U.S. Air Force Auxiliary --Civil Air Patrol (CAP) Chaplain Annette Arnold-Boyd, an energetic priest who has, among other things, worked with her young CAP cadets, her network of church friends and others to pack and mail many "care packages" to some Oregon military personnel in Iraq. Some of the items have included things military members have requested to distribute to needy Iraqi families, individuals and children.

Also in Portland I had breakfast with Chaplain Dale Carr, a friend who is a priest in the Diocese of Oregon and who serves as a chaplain for a privately owned chain of hospitals. During our conversation it was clear that Dale loves doing ministry in the non-church-connected Portland hospital where he daily represents the presence of our Lord and thus cares for all -- patients and staff, religious and non-religious -- who invite him into their daily lives as he faithfully makes his rounds,"showing up" where pain and death are located.

From Portland I went to Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane, Washington and visited Chaplain Jeff Neuberger and his wife Kate. Jeff rather recently completed a tour in Iraq at a U.S. Air Force field hospital near Baghdad. He shared with me via conversation and photos the challenging and dangerous environment in which his "outside the gate" ministry took place -- a locale which was frequently a target of mortar rounds being fired at, of all places, a hospital compound.

At Spokane's Fairchild Air Force Base, where Jeff is the Wing (i.e. senior) Chaplain, he ably supervises four younger chaplains-- some of which could possibly be eventually assigned to serve in Afghanistan, Iraq or Kuwait -- all locales that are clearly"outside the camp" of safety. In both indirect and direct ways Jeff is helping prepare those chaplains for their ongoing service outside the more traditional role of civilian priest or minister.

In my next blog I will share two other visits with Episcopal Church chaplains in the Pacific Northwest -- one in an Army hospital in Tacoma, Washington, and the other at Fort Richardson, Alaska.

Meanwhile, as we ponder the two solemn parts of this Eater Triduum -- Maundy Thursday and Good Friday -- en route to the third part, Easter Day, let us renew our commitment to the One who, in his witness as God incarnate (in flesh), showed the deep love of God for each of us by willingly going outside the gate to Golgotha rather than deny the truth of who He was called to be.