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Chaplain (MAJ) Mickey Jett and Chaplain (MAJ) Joe Melvin both recently completed the Army Family Life Chaplaincy Training Course on Marriage and Family Therapy. Chaplain Jett completed his training at Fort Benning, Georgia, and Chaplain Melvin completed his training at Fort Hood, Texas. These programs have full graduate academic credit and both chaplains will be awarded a Master of Science Degree with emphasis on Marriage and Family Therapy. Chaplain Jett's degree will be awarded through Columbus State University in Georgia and Chaplain Melvin's degree will be awarded through Tarleton State University in Texas. These graduate programs are over one year in length. The program at Fort Hood is directed by Church of God Chaplain (LTC) David C. Moran.
Having completed the graduate courses, both chaplains are being assigned to new duty stations this summer where they will direct Marriage and Family Life programs. Chaplain Melvin is being assigned to Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska. Chaplain Jett is being assigned to SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) in Belgium. Both Chaplain Jett and Chaplain Melvin are graduates of the Church of God Theological Seminary.
Four Church of God Thelogical Seminary students will be spending this summer in military chaplaincy training. As part of the military chaplain candidate program, these individuals receive orders for active duty training during the summer months between the regular spring and fall semesters at the seminary.
1LT Jeff Bartels, US Army, be going to Fort Drum, New York, to train with post chaplains assigned to the 10th Mountain Division. 2LT Chris Underwood, US Air Force, will be going to the Air Force Chaplains School at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, and will have a follow-on tour at Pope AFB, North Carolina. Ensign Brian Jacobson, US Navy, will be attending the Navy Chaplain School at Newport, Rhode Island. 2LT Jeff Roberson, US Army, will go to the Army Chaplain School at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Upon completion of their active duty tours, all will return to the seminary in the fall to resume their Master of Divinity studies.
In graduation ceremonies earlier this month at the Army Chaplains' School in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, two Church of God ministers were among the class graduates. Chaplain (1LT) Jerry David Hall and Chaplain (1LT) Dasha Somaratna completed the Chaplain Officer Basic Course and both now wear the silver cross of an Army chaplain. Chaplain Hall serves as pastor of the Grover Church of God in Grover, North Carolina. He is a recent Master of Divinity graduate of Hood Theological Seminary in North Carolina. Chaplain Somaratna is currently serving with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department in Charlotte, North Carolina. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from the Church of God Theological Seminary.
The Army Chief of Chaplains, Chaplain, Major General, Gaylord Gunhus, was the keynote speaker for the graduation ceremonies. Prior to the graduation, a special chapel service was held with Chaplain (LTC) Chuck Howell speaking. Chaplain Howell is a Church of God chaplain and serves as the Director of Officer Training at the Chaplains' School.
Chaplains Hall and Somaratna join a growing corps of Church of God military chaplains now over 75 in number, serving in every branch of our armed forces. Chaplain Hall and his wife Michelle have 3 children. Chaplain Somaratna and his wife Veronica have 3 children.
The January Army Chaplain Officer Basic Course opened with two Church of God ministers as part of the 55 member training class. Reverend Dasha Somaratna of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Reverend Abraham Sarmiento, of Cleveland, Tennessee, will be training to become Army chaplains.
Reverend Somaratna is a 1993 graduate of the Church of God Theological Seminary and a 1996 graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary. He has prior active duty service in the Army as a Chaplains Assistant. Reverend Sarmiento is in the Army chaplain candidate program and is completing his final year of studies at the Church of God Theological Seminary.
The Chaplains Commission Board of Directors, during its bi-annual business meeting on 13-14 November, interviewed applicants for the military chaplain candidate program. Four Church of God ministers were approved and endorsed for this training. In order to be eligible for this military chaplaincy program, one must be enrolled in an accredited theological seminary as a full-time resident student and as a candidate for the Master of Divinity degree.
The four selected for this program are: Reverend A. Neal Durham, Army; Reverend Brian L. Jacobson, Navy; Reverend Jeffrey B. Roberson, Army; and, Reverend Christopher D. Underwood, II, Air Force. Reverends Jacobson, Roberson, and Underwood are currently enrolled at the Church of God Theological Seminary and Reverend Durham has been accepted for enrollment and will begin in January.
The Chaplains Commission and the Church of God Theological Seminary have a long history of a strong and well-established partnership in training and providing our armed forces with outstanding chaplains. These most recently selected candidates will integrate their seminary training along with their military chaplaincy training over the next three years. Upon completion of their Master of Divinity degree and with a solid background pastoral experience, they will be eligible to apply for active duty, Reserve, or National Guard service.
The Church of God currently has 71 military chaplains serving across the US and around the world in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard.
Reverend Matthew F. Boyd, associate pastor and director of the Master's Commission program at the North Cleveland Church of God in Cleveland, Tennessee, was recently notified of his selection for active duty with the United States Air Force. Chaplain, Lieutenant, Boyd will be assigned to the 2nd Bomb WIng at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, reporting for duty in February.
Chaplain Boyd is a 1998 graduate of the Church of God Theological Seminary and is a graduate of Lee University. He has been serving on the pastoral staff of the North Cleveland Church of God and has directed its Master's Commission program for over the past two years. He has had several tours of duty at various bases as a Reserve chaplain since graduating from seminary. Matt, his wife Summer, and their baby daughter, Emily Lauren, now look forward to beginning their new ministry as our most recently selected chaplaincy family for active duty.
Chaplain (CPT) Chuck Popov was recently called up to active duty and has been assigned to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Chaplain Popov has been the senior pastor of the Greater Cincinnati Church of God (formerly the Oakley Square Church of God). Chaplain Popov completed Army chaplaincy training this past summer, graduating with honors in August 2001. He was to be assigned with the Reserves, but the events of September 11th changed that. He reported for active duty in December.
Chaplain Popov is a graduate of the Church of God Theological Seminary and also holds a graduate degree from the University of Cincinnati. He and his wife, Billie Jo, look forward to their new ministry serving the men and women of our nation's armed forces.
Chaplain Gabriel Rios, correctional chaplain for the Florida Department of Corrections, is also in training to become a chaplain for the Florida Army National Guard. Chaplain Rios is an endorsed Church of God chaplain who is assigned to the Central Florida Reception Center in Orlando as a full-time correctional chaplain. In 1999, Chaplain Rios received an appointment with the Florida Army National Guard and was commissioned as a second lieutenant, chaplain candidate.
Last year, he attended the Chaplain Officer Basic Course at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He is working through Asbury Theological Seminary to earn his Master of Divinity degree. Upon the completion of his MDiv degree and his remaining Army chaplaincy school at Fort Jackson, he will be appointed as a chaplain with the Florida Army National Guard. Chaplain is one of several Church of God ministers who are attending seminary and working towards the completion of their Master of Divinity degrees for appointments as chaplains to our armed forces.
Chapain Rios and his wife, Marilyn, reside in Maitland, Florida, with their three children, Ruth Lee, David Gabriel, and Elizabeth Mariel.
Dr Robert D. Crick, Director of the Church of God Chaplains Commission, reports that several Church of God ministers and military chaplains have been working with rescue and recovery teams at the two disaster sites. Army Chaplain (Colonel) Robert Jenkins was at the Pentagon for a senior chaplains planning conference at the Office of the Secretary of Defense when the hijacked airliner crashed into the Pentagon on the morning of 11 September. He spent the next three days at the site in rescue and recovery operations. Air Force Chaplain, Lt Col, Paul Stewart was one of the first chaplains to respond, as he is assigned to the USAF Hospital at nearby Andrews Air Force Base. Reserve Navy Chaplain (CAPT) Larry Cripps, High Point, NC, was activated and is now on duty at the Navy Chief of Chaplains office coordinating watch activities from the their command center. Other active duty, National Guard, and Reserve chaplains have been alerted to standby for duty in New York City or at the Pentagon.
New York chaplains Hector Chiesa, NY State
Department of Corrections, and Tom Grassano, Urban Harvest
Ministries in the Bronx, are both working with officials at the
trade center site to assist in chaplaincy services. FBI chaplains
Jake Popejoy, North Central Region Overseer, and Gerald McGinnnis,
pastor of the Park West Church of God in Knoxville, TN, have both
been alerted for duty. Chaplain Popejoy is scheduled to report to
the Pentagon site and Chaplain McGinnis will report to the FBI's New
York City operations. Law Enforcement Chaplain Raymond McCranie,
Dalton (GA) Church of God, is on the scene at New York City and
reported to the Chaplains Commission on his work as a Critical
Incident Stress Management Team member.
Dr. Crick reports that numerous Church of God chaplains, both military and civilian, have been placed on standby for call-up in response to this crisis and the on-going efforts to deal effectively and compassionately with this tragedy. "We are fortunate to have a corps of highly trained chaplains within the Church of God, who are prepared to minister in the midst of crisis and trauma," says Dr. Crick. "These chaplains have received the kind of specialized training and preparation needed in order to carry out ministry in such critical settings." The Chaplains Commission reports that many of its endorsed and certified chaplains, who have had the necessary training for such duty as this, have volunteered their services and are standing by.
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Copyright 1998-2012 Church of God Chaplains Commission
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January 2003