Church Hospitality at its best

Was to be found from the wonderful people of St Vincent's Church, Caythorpe.

As members of a Royal Signals regiment came to celebrate Advent in the same building that members of the Airborne Signals prayed in before they left to drop into Arnhem. It was for us a full circle moment as earlier this year we found ourselves in Arnhem for the 69th anniversary of Operation Market Garden.

A big 'Thank You' to Alison Healy for allowing us use of the building, to Jo (one of the Wardens) and those who came and gave us tea, coffee, mince pies and an extremely warm welcome on a reasonably chilly morning.

And most importantly - to those members of the church who came and took part in the mornings' proceedings (and stayed on to talk and engage so wonderfully with us.

Thank you from all of us and we wish you a blesséd and joyous Adventide and Christmas.

Military Chaplaincy - Another pace (Values & Standards)

One of the important roles of the Chaplain (or 'Padre') is the teaching of 'Values and Standards'.

The Army, Navy and Marine Corps all look towards SOLIDC, which is:

+ Selfless Commitment

+ Others, Respect for others and respect for self

+ Loyalty

+ Integrity

+ Discipline, and

+ Courage

The Royal Air Force have as their Values and Standards, RISE, which is:

+ Respect

+ Integrity

+ Service, and

+ Excellence

Personally I love starting with 'selfless commitment' as it talks of sacrifice and laying down oneself for the good of others and in bringing about the desired goal/s. Respect is key and draws upon the OT and NT demands upon us when dealing with others and regarding the way we view ourselves. Loyalty, that ability to remain true to those with whom we are in relationship even when the cost is great draws us back to Christ yet again and as we consider 'Greater love' we also consider loving, and being faithful to, our 'nearest neighbour'. Integrity, that ability to be a whole person (just as an integer is a whole number) and to be what others see us wanting them to see. Discipline, for we train ourselves to run the race and to push on to win the victor's prize, a prize that cannot be corrupted not taken away (the diadema which is the laurel crown). Finally we find ourselves looking at courage. Physical and moral courage. That element tah see ordinary men and women do extraordinary things in the service of their country in difficult and dusty places.

The Air Force have respect for others and for self at the front of their values and standards and, as with the others services, have integrity as their second element. This draws upon the areas of moral Courage, honesty, responsibility and justice and leads into service which covers the areas of physical courage, Loyalty, Teamwork and commitment (to the team and selflessly to see the job done). The final element, which is excellence brings in discipline and a pride (personal and corporate) in the role and the service.

Two very similar sets of Values and Standards, which act to make our service men and women people of integrity whose hallmarks are very much in line with Micah's call to humility, Justice and mercy. Many of those I meet despair at the low moral standards of our society, something which the high moral standards of our forces make even more obvious.

Chaplains are the subject matter specialists in Values and Standards, an area which the Christian message and the power of the Gospel and the example of Christ all make even more effective and compelling.

Feeling the desire to get involved yet?

Military Chaplaincy - Another pace (the role)

Having established that our forces are not in the business of murdering, we now turn our gaze towards the role of the Chaplain in a military setting.

First and foremost the Chaplain is there to provide moral and spiritual guidance and pastoral support to ALL members of the armed forces, and the service in which they serve in particular. The Chaplain is present for those of ALL religions and those of NO religion. Regardless of the who or what, we engage with them and bring the otherness that we, as minister of the Gospel, have in this setting.

The Chaplain teaches and reinforce the values and standards of the service of which they are a part and will also find themselves engaged in the teaching of LOAC (Law of Armed Conflict) and engaging in some extremely challenging conversations regarding RoE (Rules of Engagement) and the reasons for our presence in places (and the jobs we are doing). Alongside this we have the field services, communions and other 'church' services, which include vigils, acts of remembrance, sending off of those who have died in combat and the receiving of same back here in the UK. We do funerals (military and civillian), weddings, baptisms and the other stuff normally associated with the parish/pastoral roles.

There is the joy of sharing Christ and seeing men and women in uniform accept Him and come through in their faith to a place where they themselves are selected for training. There is the precious ability to discuss with those in uniform the philosophy and theology of faith and to help ALL with their journey along their chosen path (one of my joys has been to help a young Buddhist grow in their faith such that they are now becoming a leader of others).

We are not in the forces to excuse or justify wrong, for this is not what our faith requires (Micah 6 - humility, justice, mercy says it all). We NEVER glorify war and do, in our acts of remembrance, accept the folly and failures that bring us to conflict - honouring the dead of all sides and those who were non-combatants too.

If anyone wants to be fully engaged in the pastoral role and have before them the opportunity to share their faith and to display it in their own life and attitudes, then look no further than the military Chaplaincy roles - full on and for christ - always