Church of God Chaplains Celebrate Martin Luther King Day

Federal Correctional Chaplain Reginald Bowens, Seymour-Johnson Federal Prison

On January 20, 2002, our nation celebrates Martin Luther King Day. This is a day designated and set aside in 1986 as a Federal Holiday for our entire nation. On this special day, we are asked to commemorate not only the life and ministry of Dr. King, but to pause and reflect on the great Civil Rights Movement of our great nation. It is a time to celebrate the life-long work of Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement for peace; and also, to recognize and underscore the impact and contributions of African-Americans upon this nation and its history.

For Church of God Chaplains around the world, Martin Luther King Day is special indeed. Military, prison, hospital and all other types of Church of God chaplains will be conducting special services, celebrating the diversity which makes up our nation's population. This special day will give military chaplains the opportunity to recognize the heroic contributions of African-American military personnel and their family members; in prisons, with the large number of black Americans serving as wardens, doctors, social workers and guards, this will be the occasion for our chaplains to thank Almighty God for the ."multi-racial/color which makes up our American tradition.." And in hospitals, our chaplains will gather with doctors, nurses and other medical personnel, to give witness to the fact that when someone hurts, ."color is never an issue.."

The Church of God Chaplains Commission takes great pride in the fact that every chaplaincy position is never based upon the color of one's skin, whether the candidate is a man or woman, or, their families of origin or languages of origin. We not only work in areas of diversity, we celebrate that ministry opportunity.

On this special day, the Church of God Chaplains Commission is asking the entire Church to take a moment and to review the wonderful contributions of African-American chaplains, who now serve in some of the most critical areas of chaplaincy. While we will not be able to name all these chaplains, let's lift up a few. Chaplain, Colonel, Ridley Usherwood, Air Force Reserves, has been cited by the Air Force as being one of their ."noted Air Force educators." on Ethics and World Religion. Chaplain, Commander, Gerald Felder was recently hand-picked by the Navy Chief of Chaplains for a critical recruitment assignment, which gives him the opportunity to recruit African-American and other chaplains in several states for the US Navy. Federal Prison Chaplain Reginald Bowens, a long-term supervisory level Federal Prison Chaplain, recently received the highest award offered by the Federal Bureau of Prisons for his outstanding ministry to inmates and staff. And then there are some of our up-and-coming outstanding African-American chaplains, serving in critical assignments. Army Chaplain (CPT) Eugene Mack, recently left his family at Ft. Benning for a combat-unit assignment in Kuwait; and, the same for Army (CPT) Roderick Swanson, on a one-year remote tour on the South Korean DMZ; and, Air Force Chaplain (CPT) Eddie Jones, after serving in tactical air wings and missile units, now ."hand-picked." for clinical training at the Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.

These are just a few of our outstanding African-American chaplains. So on this special Martin Luther King Day, we give recognition to the tremendous contributions that these and other African-American chaplains have made not only to Church of God Chaplaincy, but they have impacted the entire Church with special gifts and calling. Chaplaincy is about diversity; a chaplain by his/her very nature, would be most uncomfortable with congregations made up of persons of only one culture, ethnic background or single views and gifts. God's Church is multi-racial, multi-linguistic and multi-gifted. If you would like additional information concerning the opportunities for African-American, other ethnic groups and women for chaplaincy service, please contact the Church of God Chaplains Commission at: chapcm@bellsouth.net