Church of God Chaplains Commission

Chaplains Commission Weekly Update

Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 8:34 pm

Choice Christian greetings!

As most of you know, the Church of God Chaplains Commission was officially given departmental status July, 1978. Until that time, the Commission’s ministries were actually managed by the Executive Committee of the Church of God, with an Assistant General Overseer as “Director.” This process dates back to the early 1960s, even before we had our first Active Duty military chaplain. When the Commission was officially established in 1978, we had nine military chaplains and one prison chaplain. Today, we enjoy almost 200 full-time U.S. chaplains, with many other full-time chaplains outside the U.S. and approximately 2,500 community service chaplains. These chaplains represent ministries in 37 different types of institutions that range from hospitals, prisons, universities, industry, juvenile centers, race tracks, military and the list goes on. It goes without saying that God has abundantly blessed this ministry! He has blessed it for one primary reason…because we have some of the best trained and most committed ministers you will find anywhere. The Chaplains Commission stands and falls on the quality of its chaplains.

CHAPLAINCY NEWS:

1. Prison Chaplain Carol Johnson, Longview, Washington, gives this report: “Continue to pray for my great-grandson, Noah, three years old. Pray for his safety and God’s favor; and for his mother, my granddaughter. On another note, I am happy to report that in our most recent Sunday service at the prison, 46 inmates gave their hearts to the Lord. We are looking for an even greater movement of the Holy Spirit.”

2. Law Enforcement Chaplain Robert Gibson, Rock Hall, Maryland, reports: “Recently, I was riding with a deputy on the midnight shift when we received a call to go to the site of a serious automobile accident. The driver was thrown clear with broken bones, but lived. The young female passenger was killed instantly; trapped in the car and burned to death. The smell of death was difficult, even for the most seasoned officers. These two teenagers had just graduated from a Christian high school; and it was my responsibility to make the notification of the death and injury. The following day, I was part of a critical incident debriefing for the officers who had to deal with this incident.”

3. Hospice Chaplain Gene Bordeaux, Metairie, Louisiana,gives praise to the Lord for his new opportunity of ministry. He states: “I am thankful for this new hospice position. My duties will include, but not be limited to, active patient visitation, bereavement assessment and follow-up, staff support, teaching spirituality, etc.”

4. Army Retired Chaplain and Pastoral Counselor Randy Imhoff, Syracuse, New York, sends this report concerning his daughter, Sheena: “Sheena amazed us today. We took her to church, and as we sang Shout to the Lord, I glanced over and saw her mouthing the words to the first verse, My Jesus, My Savior, Lord, there is none like you! We believe God is working in her. I continue to ask the Lord to show me what He is doing each day.”

5. Army Chaplain (CPT) Jeff Bartels, deployed to Iraq, notes: “I wanted my chaplaincy family to know I have arrived safely in Iraq. I have my work cut out for me. I serve a medevac unit, plus directing our ministries center. Keep me, Theresa and our new baby in your prayers.”

6. Army Chaplain (MAJ) Charles Kuhlman, recently deployed from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to Iraq with his unit. We will be sending you additional information concerning his ministry opportunities and prayer needs.

7. Prison Chaplain Richard Paul, Silver City, New Mexico, recently underwent cell implantation surgery. He has been hospitalized for several weeks and sends this note: “I am doing well and have recently returned home. This will be a long readjustment period. I must be on special diets, stay out of the sun and stay away from crowds. I have to be extremely careful not to attract any diseases in that my immune system is functioning at a very low level. Keep me in your prayers.”

CHAPLAIN OF THE WEEK:

This week, we highlight the ministries of Chaplain (MAJ-P) Joseph Melvin and his wife, Linda. They recently returned from an assignment at Baumholder, Germany, to his new Air Defense Artillery Brigade assignment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. This new ministry is a LTC Command Chaplain assignment, with responsibility for chaplains and soldiers scattered over multi-state areas. Chaplain Melvin has approximately 17 years Active Duty experience with assignments that include: family life training residency; Baumholder, Germany (twice); Fort Bragg, North Carolina (twice); Fort Wainwright, Alaska; Fort McCoy, Wisconsin; Fort Irwin, California; Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Somalia; and Fort Hood, Texas. Additionally, Chaplain Melvin participated with his combat unit both in Desert Shield and Desert Storm, 1990-91. He was called up with his Reserve Unit in November, 1990, after the invasion by Saddam of Kuwait. After Desert Storm, he came back to his Reserve Unit, and was finally called for permanent Duty in 1991. During Desert Storm, the Church of God sent 17 chaplains with their military units to Kuwait, Iraq and the Persian Gulf area.

Chaplain Melvin and Linda have three daughters: Melinda, Jolinda and Rebekah. At the time he was called to Active Duty, Chaplain Melvin was pastoring a church in Montana. Chaplain Melvin is a graduate of the Church of God Seminary and has an additional Masters in Psychology and Counseling. His counseling and pastoral care skills are enhanced by a 15-month Family Life Residency. In every one of Chaplain Melvin’s assignments, he has always been noted as having a “pastoral heart of integrity.” That is also the case of his entire family. Linda has always been deeply involved in military chaplaincy ministries, counseling with family members and, especially, giving crisis intervention to military families during deployment. It is an honor to have chaplains endorsed by our Commission of this caliber. Therefore, we would like to lift up Chaplain Melvin and his family as our chaplaincy team of the week.

FINALLY:

A dear friend of mine for over 40 years came by my office this week. We sat for a couple of hours reflecting on the loss of his dear wife and ministry companion. She went to be with the Lord just a few months ago. We shared with each other the fact that when we experience a pain of this magnitude, God oftentimes will push the pain even deeper before He begins to bring us back to stability, hope and peace. It is as if the Lord wants us to not only to feel the pain, but embrace it in its most profound level. Almost to his surprise, his congregation noted that following this painful loss, his preaching had become deeper, more profound and insightful than ever before. In other words, out of his pain came a prophetic voice of healing. That, among other reasons, is why our chaplains have so much credibility; both within the institutions they serve and the Church at large. A good portion of their lives is spent in those deeper, profoundly dark corridors of struggle, pain and death. Jesus taught us this with His words, “Place me on a cross and I will draw all men unto me.” There is something amazingly fruitful about pain; it opens our hearts and identifies us with a suffering world with relevance and integrity. Thank God for Church of God chaplains; they have learned that God dwells within the pain of this world. Herein lies life-changing ministry opportunities.

Sincerely,

Dr. Robert Crick

Director, Chaplains Commission

Director’s e-mail: cricksot@worldnet.att.net

Office e-mail: chapcm@bellsouth.net

Web Site/Page: www.cogchaplains.com

RDC/vja

Categories: Weekly Update