The Journey

The life of a "military" family is pretty much defined by transitions. Packing and unpacking for trips and packing up the household every two or three years to go to another assignment is a way of life. I have thought a great deal about models of ministry in the midst of this dynamic community, or at least an image of ministry to keep in mind to help shape my work as an Air Force Chaplain. There is the building image, with Christ as the Cornerstone and the chaplain/pastor as bricklayer. Just keep laying program upon program, brick upon brick. Then there is the business image where the pastor becomes the CEO and the Church is seen as a corporation. I suppose this is the model that many of the mega-churches use to operate. The image that works for me in my setting is the journey. I have come to see ministry to the military as ministry with people on a journey. Some walk alone in a wilderness, some in pairs, family units, and some become part of larger communities like ones found in military chapels. As the people of God on a journey we support, encourage, nourish and love one another. In the community can be found grace, healing and growth, and there can be conflict, doubt, fear as we look ahead into the unknown and back to Egypt where we were slaves, but at least had some food. From time to time, one of the people will decide to go off on his or her own, but the community sends out a rescue party because Jesus went after the lost sheep and the military never leaves a man behind. But the majority of the people I have been called to serve are not in the community of faith. They are young, families, Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines who know what it means to serve and to sacrifice, but do not participate in the church. Those we visit on the flightline, in their workcenters, in foxholes, in tents, terminals, before and after battle, in hospitals and barracks. I have always considered them part of the congregation, people to whom I have been sent to serve, people on a journey, spiritual people if not affiliated with a church or religious organization. They don't appear on any church roll, but they come seeking direction, support, a listening ear, and love. We are a people on a journey, transitioning from one assignment to the next, and in the midst of the swirl, the church can be found not as a building or an institution, but as the dynamic people of God, the body of Christ sent to love and tell others the good news.