Insights on pastoring a church in a community with a military installation
by Greg Baxter
Pastor, Faith Journey Church, Lawton, OK
As a 22-year-old airman returning from England for my final six months of duty in January 1976, I was looking forward to being stationed in Arizona near my best friend. Instead I was sent to Dyess AFB, Abilene, TX. I had never lived in Texas nor did I know anyone there. Within a month I experienced my first dust storm, cowboys who wore spurs driving pick-up trucks with rifles hanging in the back window, and the best-tasting BBQ ever.
My sponsor was a fine Christian man named Larry who made it a point to invite me to his church. I was open to the idea since I was a believer who was not serving God at the time. So on the last Sunday of January 1976 I visited Trinity Baptist Church where Howard Ingram was pastor and Ed Hughlett was the music director and college and career teacher. Within six months I had surrendered to full-time ministry, was engaged to my wife Lenora, and gave up my desire to become a lawyer. A year later I was married and we transferred from Hardin Simmons University to Baptist Bible College, Springfield, MO.
I was one of over 200 men who surrendered under Pastor Ingram’s ministry. Most of us were young military men stationed at a base near his church in Roswell, NM, or later in Abilene, TX. God used him to influence many of us to enter full-time ministry and attend Baptist Bible College. His influence is still felt in our Fellowship today.
The Baptist Bible Fellowship has always had men who have pastored churches near a military base. They have won many military men, women, and their families to Christ. Many surrendered to full-time ministry; some became leaders in their local churches, while others left to continue their military careers serving God faithfully at their next duty station. Others, like me, became the pastor of a church near a military base.
After growing up in a military family, serving an enlistment in the military after high school, then later returning to the military as a chaplain, and now pastoring a church in a military town, I want to share a few principles I have learned while being a part of this very special community.
1. Go with the flow
That is, work around the cycle of Permanent Change of Station (PCS), unit garrison and field training, and deployments in peacetime and war. In the U.S. Army we call it the operations tempo or “optempo.” The pace of ministry is quick because of the mission of the Army. After the first phase of the Iraqi war ended in 2003, and units returned, many soldiers retired or were discharged from the service. We lost four core families from our church. The neat thing is we are still in contact with two of them years later. Military families come and go. Understand that and adjust.
2. Discipleship
Keep the discipleship program basic. Long-range planning in a church full of military is three years. Most military families’ assignments are only three or four years in length. Fort Sill near where I pastor is a training installation, so we will generally have individuals and families here for only six months before they leave. We will allow them to teach in Sunday school and junior church, or sing in our praise team almost immediately after becoming members. For the most part they are great workers and are very trainable.
3. Community happens more quickly
Military families bond more quickly and gravitate toward one another as family. Their own families are miles away. They want the church family to be part of their biological family. Dakota, a fourth grader, asked my wife if she would go to lunch with her on “Grandparent Day.” Her grandmother lives in North Carolina, so they only see them on vacation once a year. We have the entire church out to our hobby farm one Sunday a year for a service in the barn and a BBQ. Our military families rate this activity as the best event of the year.
4. Learn their language
Get used to military-speak. How would you respond to this bit of news?
The BN FTX starts tomorrow. Make sure everyone has their TA50 and be ready to hit the SP at O800. Have your sensitive item check done by 0500 and your UBL uploaded. I contacted the FSG so they will know when we index. POC for this action is the CDR.
Here is the translation.
The battalion’s field training exercise begins tomorrow. Make sure everyone has all their personal military equipment (helmet, weapon, body armor, field uniforms, etc.). Have all high-security items accounted for by 5:00 a.m. and the unit’s basic load of ammunition, food, fuel, tents, and vehicles loaded, lined up, and ready to depart for the field. I contacted the family support group, the family members of the soldiers, to inform when we will return to home station. The point of contact for information is the commander of the unit.
You don’t have to be fluent, but your military members will appreciate an effort to engage their “culture” and “language group.”
5. Ministry Demographics
Among military personnel, old is 40. Plan your activities and programs accordingly. Here are some other bits of information you may find useful.
Age. Overall, the average age of the Active Duty force is 28.5, the average age for Active Duty officers is 34.7, and the average age for enlisted personnel is 27.3.
Marital status. Just over half (56.4 percent) of Active Duty military members are married. In 2010, a majority (69.9 percent) of officers and over half (53.7 percent) of enlisted personnel reported themselves as married.
Active Duty members (1,417,370) are outnumbered by their associated family members (1,983,236). Less than half the members (38.8 percent) of the Active Duty force are married with children and 5.4 percent are single parents. The largest group of children is between birth through five years old (527,670). The next largest groups are between the ages of six and 11 years old (382,823) and between the ages of 12 and 18 years old (284,658). Substantially fewer children are between the ages of 19 and 22 years old (52,723); however, children ages 21 to 22 must be enrolled as full-time students in order to qualify as dependents. There are 9,485 adult dependents ages 23 and older among the families of Active Duty members.
Active duty military members are younger overall than most church members. If they are married, they will have preschool children and younger or elementary-age children. This translates to the need for a robust singles ministry, modern nursery, an exciting children’s ministry, and a vibrant and challenging outreach to couples and families. I would also add that this group is very tech savvy. They know computers, smart phones, Powerpoint, email, texting, websites, and blogs, and they have come to expect the church to integrate these technologies into the church.
6. Stewardship
Military members get paid twice a month like clockwork. Their income has risen over the past 20 years so their earnings are equal to or surpass what a civilian would earn for equal work. They have excellent medical, housing, and retirement benefits as well. Ironically, because the military provides so much, members have trouble understanding the financial needs of the church. Teach stewardship systematically and often. They will give when taught biblical principles of giving. The problem is that when a military family gives regularly and faithfully it is usually for a few years at best. Our church budget goes through a boom and bust cycle. War is a terrible thing and puts our military at great risk. However, in a military church, times of war can actually increase giving. We had a retired major who was a government contractor working in Iraq. He sent us a monthly offering of $1,000 a month for over a year. After he returned and moved away, the offerings stopped. We also have a military family stationed in Germany who continues to send most of their offerings to our church.
7. Refer
Learn how to network with military resources such as community services, social work services, hospitals, emergency relief, Red Cross, etc. Many times these agencies can help the soldier and his family in ways the church cannot. These helping agencies are in place to provide resources to service personnel and their families in case of hardship, a death in the family, and other emergencies. Most of these agencies appreciate a local pastor taking an interest in helping soldiers and their families even if they are not members of their church. Most installations have a Thanksgiving and Christmas food basket program funded by the chaplains for those military families who cannot afford a holiday meal. Our church will sponsor a family or provide a voucher for those families who attend our church.
8. Counseling
Pastors to military people should receive some training in treating PTSD, marriage and crisis counseling, and team building. Many soldiers will not get help from the system on base because they believe it will hurt their career. It is not true, but you need to honor their perception, at least in the beginning.
PTSD. Our nation has been at war since September 11, 2001. Many return from the battlefield traumatized by their experiences. Since 2002 there are over 89,000 military personnel who have post-traumatic stress disorder. The Army has 67 percent of the cases, the Air Force has nine percent, the Navy has 11 percent, and the Marines have 13 percent.
Studies estimate that one of every five military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan has PTSD. Twenty percent of the soldiers who have been deployed in the past six years have PTSD. That’s over 300,000. Seventeen percent of combat troops are women; 71 percent of female military personnel develop PTSD due to sexual assault within the ranks. Pastors need training in this area of counseling. Militaryministry.org is a resource you may want to consider.
Marriage counseling. Military families are far removed from their extended families, friends, and local community. At the same time, military members are away from their spouses and children for extended periods of time. This creates stress, conflict, and relationship issues. Pastors of military churches can be a great support and help by teaching communication and conflict resolution skills, and helping a couple grow in their relationship in the midst of great hardship.
Crisis counseling. The military is a dangerous occupation even when combat operations are not being conducted. There are training accidents and other serious incidents that occur to military members and their families. Have a working knowledge of how to help people who are experiencing a personal or critical family crisis.
9. Attend their functions
Go to change of commands ceremonies, hail and farewells if invited (an event usually at a local restaurant where military members of the same unit welcome new members of the command and say goodbye to members who are leaving the unit), promotions, award presentations, and retirement ceremonies. These are important rites of passages for members of the military and their families. On several occasions I have prayed at a promotion or retirement ceremony for a member of our church. It is very important, however, to pray a prayer that is appropriate to the situation. Know your audience. When in doubt about what to say, talk to someone who has experience in these situations.
10. Use your retired/civilian members of the church as the core
Due to such a rapid turnover of military families, develop a core of leaders who are retired military members as well as local members of your community. These folks will understand this dynamic and support you and your efforts to minister in a community with a military presence.
11. Philosophy of ministry
Military personnel who are strong believers moving to the community are looking to join your church as well. Since military members live in a variety of locations in the U.S. and overseas, they may have attended a church with a different philosophy of ministry. Don’t change who or what you are, but be aware of those differences.
12. Cross-Cultural Marriages
Quite a number of military men have married women from other countries and cultures. The vast majority of these wives come from Korea, Japan, Panama, Germany, and other western European countries. It is important to have an understanding of these different cultures in order to help these couples and families. It is especially important with regard to marital expectations, communication, and conflict resolution issues. These families do add a richness and diversity to a congregation as well as an insight to missions because the wives can give a first-hand account of their home country.
Serving in a community with a military installation is like riding a roller coaster. I feel a rush of excitement and accomplishment as well as a sense of sheer panic sometimes on the same day. Pastor Billy Hamm’s experience is typical: he pastored in Colorado Springs, home of the 4th Infantry Division, during the height of the Vietnam War. In eight years the church grew from 140 to over 600, held 915 baptisms, recorded 2,000 professions of faith, and trained 70 leadership families. At the same time, he was losing ten leadership families a year, ministering to families whose father or husband was killed or wounded in the war, and constantly saying hello and goodbye to individuals and families whose lives he touched for a brief time, mostly never to be seen again on this side of heaven.
What a blessing indeed!
Greg Baxter served as an US Army chaplain 23 years retiring as a major. His last assignment was at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO. He received his DMin from Liberty Seminary in August 2011. His dissertation was A Leadership Manual for the 21st Century Church, based on the leadership principles of Jesus in Training the Twelve Disciples. Greg has been the pastor of Faith Journey Church (formerly Lawton Baptist Tabernacle) in Lawton, OK, nine years.