“It far exceeded my expectations,” said Bishop Ordinary to the Canadian Forces Peter Coffin, when asked his thoughts about a recent tour of a nearby Canadian Forces Base by members of the Anglican regional clericus.
The tour was sponsored by the 17 Wing’s flight line chaplain, Captain (The Rev.) Gordon Mintz. On the tour, Anglican clergy had the opportunity to receive a ”˜behind the fence line’ insight into how military chaplains deal with the challenges of ministering to such a diverse and dynamic entity.
“The local (Anglican) clergy was very appreciative of learning first-hand the stresses on military families that they see in their congregations and learning more of the role of chaplains in supporting our military families,” said Padre Mintz.
When I was an officer candidate at Ft. Benning many years ago, the senior chaplain there was a RC priest, Chaplain (COL) Ortiz. He was a great guy – looked every inch the soldier, and made the first jump with every Airborne School class. Our brigade chaplain was a Baptist preacher, a CPT whose name I can’t recall. When we would be out before dawn on a 5-mile run or doing calisthenics in the rain, there he would be right with us in his baggy old gray sweats. Both men had loads of street cred. I was in the chapel’s choir which sang for both RC and Protestant services and heard them both preach as well and they were solid. Chaplains like these are a tremendous asset to the soldiers and their families and “force multipliers” to the commands in which they serve.
I got to meet many good Army chaplains, especially those attached to the infantry. The best was the RC chaplain Major Schwarz who always introduce my husband as his son since we spell our last name the same way. That was always good for a laugh. He’d go out on road marches and runs with the troops.