Chaplain News John C. Vaughn
O
ver the last few years the chaplaincy ministry of the FBFI has become one of the main activities of the Fellowship. The FBFI obtained authorization to endorse chaplains in 1982 in association with the Associated Gospel Churches (AGC). To provide endorsement that applied the FBFI fellowship principle to Fundamental Baptist chaplaincy, the endorsing agency of the FBFI requested separate listing with the Department of Defense (DoD) in 1993. Since then the number of endorsed chaplains has grown from three to nearly sixty. Ecclesiastical endorsement is required because of the “dual role” of the chaplain as both minister and military officer. In a previous issue of FrontLine, FBFI-endorsed Navy Chaplain Tavis Long explained the potential for confusion in that dual role, and explained how the FBFI insists on the chaplain’s accountability to his local church.* To aid local churches whose leaders are affiliated with the FBFI in supporting their chaplains, FrontLine includes excerpts from the many communications between FBFI-endorsed chaplains and reports on their activities. Realizing the critical role that Fundamental Baptist chaplains play in the uncompromising fulfillment of the Great Commission, an increasing number of local churches are developing
innovative ways to support and interact with chaplains. Christian school classes are “adopting” FBFI-endorsed chaplains and communicating with them during deployments. Sunday school classes are sending packages of materials to chaplains to use in their ministries. Pastors are involving uniformed chaplains in their Missions Conferences or inviting them to speak on special days such as Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Veterans Day. In fact, an increasing number of pastors are seeing the importance of having the chaplains give “missionary reports” to their sending churches when they are at home. As regular readers of FrontLine know, we have dedicated two previous issues of the magazine to chaplaincy. Because of the importance and steady growth of chaplaincy ministry in the FBFI, the next issue will focus on “The Chaplaincy and the Local Church,” providing better understanding to promote the extension of Fundamental Baptist local church ministry through chaplaincy. In conjunction with the Annual Fellowship, held on the Tuesday through Thursday of the second full week of June, the FBFI offers annual chaplain training required by the DoD. After initial training sessions on Monday, the chaplains and their wives
enjoy a banquet where they renew their friendships. Chaplain training continues through Friday morning of the Annual Fellowship week. In addition to annual endorser training, chaplains participate in formal military chaplaincy training. Since all of the military departments now have their chaplaincy schools at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, which is just over one hundred miles from the FBFI Home Office, we participate in many graduations on behalf of the chaplains’ churches. The Home Office can provide helpful information on FBFI chaplains when pastors and local churches desire to extend their ministries through the strategic ministry of chaplaincy. *“Since the military positions, pays, and
promotes the chaplain, it is easy to assume that he answers primarily to the military, secondarily to the government, and only has a tertiary obligation to his local church. . . . Though the chaplain must receive an endorsement from an ecclesiastical organization (a government requirement), that organization has virtually no authority over the Chaplain [except] the power to withdraw the endorsement, thus legally disqualifying the chaplain from military service” (Tavis Long, “The Military Chaplain: Missionary, Evangelist, or Pastor?” FrontLine [November/December, 2009], 6).
Left–2011 Annual FBFI Chaplains’ Training. Top Right–CH (LT) Trenten Long and his son Breyton Bottom Right–Matt, Ginger, and Reagan Sprecher at Matt’s graduation from the Chaplain Captain Career Course (C4) School FrontLine • July/August 2011
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