Saint Martin's Cloak

When I tell people that I have been a pastor for nearly 30 years, years, I sometimes receive a strange look and a question. "What? I thought you were an Army chaplain." Public law says very little about the duties of Army chaplains. The basic legal framework in Title 10 (Section 3547) is over a century old. It specifies only two functions: leading worship and burying the dead. 10USC3547 (a) Each chaplain shall, when practicable, hold appropriate religious services at least once on each Sunday for the command to which he is assigned, and shall perform appropriate religious burial services for members of the Army who die while in that command. My church also has a definite understanding of what a pastor is and does. Pastors lead the congregation of God's people in their corporate life and in their service of God. They proclaim God's word and administer the sacraments. Within my ecclesiastical polity, pastors preach, lead worship, teach the scriptures, make disciples,...

Detail - Four Chaplains Window at Fort Leavenworth Photo by the author Today (February 3) is the anniversary of the sinking of the troop transport Dorchester in 1943 in the ongoing battle of the Atlantic. Four chaplains were on board: George Fox (Methodist), John Washington (Roman Catholic), Alexander Goode (Jewish) and Clark Poling (Dutch Reformed). All four were Army lieutenants. Torpedoes hit the Dorchester just after midnight on February 3, 1943 and the ship would sink 23 minutes later. The chaplains immediately began to pray with frightened Soldiers, offer words of encouragement, and provide leadership on deck to those abandoning ship. At one point, they began to assist with the distribution of life vests to those without them. When the supply of vests was exhausted, the chaplains removed their own vests and gave them to Soldiers in need. As the ship sank, survivors could see the four chaplains standing on the deck, their arms linked and their voices lifted in prayer. Of the 902...