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The U.S. Army Chaplain Corps Celebrates 247 Years in July*** BUILDING INNER RESILIENCE: CHAPLAINS NURTURE THE SOUL OF THE ARMY RESERVE · Go News To Go: More Good News

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  All right, it's Reverend Paul Fakis. The US Army Chaplain celebrates two hundred
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  and forty seven years WOW in July, building inner resilience, chaplain's nurture the
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  soul of the Army Reserve. And we're very fortunate to have this morning with
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  US Chaplain Paul Schrader, officer in charge of the one hundred and sixteenth Chaplain
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  Detachment in Fort Lewis is at Washington, WA. And thank you very much,
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  Chaplain Chater. How are you today? I'm doing great. Thanks for
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  having me here today. Okay, well, I'm obviously a believer in chaplain's
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  being. Ever, how Reverend myself and we're here in the New York area
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  and faith based is a big part of of of course my life, part
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  of so many people's lives. And tell us how how that is working in
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  the in the US Army Reserves. Yeah sure, you know, as a
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  chaplain, you know, we we really take a holistic approach to caring for
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  our soldiers and their families. And we understand really when when your whole life
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  isn't balance, your physical, spiritual, and mental lives are all connected.
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  And so as a chaplains, you know, we do some core competencies.
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  We really we nurture the living, we care for them, We we care
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  for the wounded, and we also honor those who have fallen. But we
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  take a holistic approach and as chaplains, we really focus on that spiritual aspect
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  and we believe if you have that in balance, then the rest of your
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  life will will follow suit. And so a chaplain in the Army Reserve is
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  works with people of all faiths. That's correct. Yeah, we we we
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  are here to to ensure the free exercise of religion for all our soldiers,
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  no matter what background they are, although we each have our own faith background
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  and our own endorsers. So we either perform or provide what we can for
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  the soldiers. H Okay, that's I understand that I'm all faith and spiritual
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  myself. But ordained? Do you need to be ordained to become a chaplain
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  for the Army Reserve? Do you help people become that? Yeah? In
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  order to be a chaplain, you have to be ordained a credential through a
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  through some kind of a faith group, church or denomination, or depending on
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  what your what your background is. But once you have that and you educationally
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  qualified, we we have a we have a place for for anyone who wants
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  to work in this field. Okay, we'll tell us some of the kinds
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  of things that many of the Army Reserve. I guess it's not a full
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  time position, is it. I mean it reserve come in you know,
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  a monthly is that? So? So is it a little bit different?
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  Do you have the opportunity to work, saye, some money within a marriage
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  situation or other situations? How to how do you work with an Army Reserve
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  person? Yeah? So, typically vast majority of the Army Reserve are part
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  time, so you know, typically one week in a month and two weeks
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  during the year, and sometimes the schedules are a little bit different. But
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  because of that, we we make ourselves available pretty much any time for soldiers
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  who who need us, and so we we do marriage counseling, we do
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  family counseling, We do retreats for families and couples and even single soldiers,
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  and we so we holistically reach out to the whole entire family and do what
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  we can to work with them. Although you know, we primarily work with
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  the service members when they're on duty, but we're also available anytime. Well,
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  overall. I guess in general, service has has some stress to it,
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  right, protecting our country and being uh you know responsible and taking it
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  respectfully and responsibly. How do you feel that that affects some of the soldiers
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  we, I mean stress, stress is real. So whether it's uh,
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  you know, service related or otherwise, you know, it definitely affects every
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  one of us and so, and in order to combat that, you know,
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  we we provide you know, spiritual resources and services and counseling and whatever
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  we can do to really walk alongside those who have been uh you know,
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  facing life challenges and so. But yeah, there are some particular challenges that
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  all soldiers face, and so we're here to work with him through that process.
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  Uh huh, Okay, have any examples of, you know, helping
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  someone that you'd like to share? Sure, you know, several years ago,
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  I had a soldier who was an pretty major crisis and he was returning
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  from some treatment and mental health treatment. Ended up having to meet him at
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  a at an airport, drive into his house, and I literally spent two
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  days at his house, sleeping there, making sure that he was cared for
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  and safe until we can get him to the next level of care and so
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  spent a lot of time with him and you know, fortunately I was there
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  in the command allowed me to do that. And he is, he's doing
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  well these days and he's he's retired and living a pretty full life. Ah.
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  Well, there's definitely one reality about being a chaplain or a faith based
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  person. Uh, it's a two way street. We we we gained a
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  tremendous amount of I guess self respect, maybe pride. Uh when when you
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  when you help somebody that haven't you felt that over the year. Have you've
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  been doing this for a long time. Well, I've been in the chaplain
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  Corps for about twelve years now, I've been I've been a pastor for twenty
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  two years probably now, and so yeah, it's been out a day or
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  two. Where were we a pastor at? Yeah, I've been a pastor
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  with the huge Allical Free Church recently in Duluth. But I've served at Baptist
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  churches and independent churches and uh and Hugelical Free churches as well. So what
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  if you don't mind, what was your desire initially to become a pastor?
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  Well, I felt a calling from God as as a young boy when a
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  missionary came to our church and share what they were doing. I just sensed
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  that God was calling into ministry and so that just that stayed with me from
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  prim of the age of eight, I would believe, until I finally joined
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  our became a pastor at the age of about twenty eighth. Wow. Okay,
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  that's beautiful. And what do you suggest for people to who want to
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  go into the incoming a pastor, reverend and so on and so forth,
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  what do you what do you suggest for them? Well, I suggest,
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  you know, particularly if you're a Christian, I would suggest, you know,
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  spend any time in the Word and praying and seeking God and then uh
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  and then just living life and helping people and and uh and get some training,
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  you know, go to school, go to seminary if you want to,
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  but really just just just do it and then and pray the God to
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  open the doors. And eventually, if He's called you, you will you
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  will find a place in ministry. So two hundred and forty seven years there's
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  not a little number. So, uh, would you say, when when
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  did the army reserve? We start twenty forty seven years ago. You know,
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  I know it's not sure when the army Reserve began. I mean,
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  that would be a good question for the Aaoh, but I would tell you
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  that. But we you know, the Chaplain Corps was was the second organization
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  to be instituted in the Army, and it was so important that we've been
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  there since even before the founding of the country. So we're pretty we're pretty
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  integral into the army. Wow, there's no no, no doubt, no
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  doubt about that. Just watch mash. That's right. Let me ask what
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  I want to add a quation. So if somebody wants or is already a
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  chaplain, you need to If you want to join the Army Reserve and you
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  are a chaplain, then you go to join the Army Reserve. You say,
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  I'm a chaplain. I'd like to be a chaplain. Is that a
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  possible thing for somebody to do. Yeah, if you're a pastor or a
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  chaplain, or a rabbi or imam, whatever, if you have if you
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  have the credentials, the experience and the education, then you joined. You
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  applied the Army and you go through the process and as long as you are
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  qualified both physically and educationally, you know, we bring you in and we
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  put you to work as a chaplain and we send you to military schools,
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  but then you're a chaplain. There you go, okay, and are you
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  The Army Reserve normally is here in America, right or they have deployment outside
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  our reserve. The arm reserve is really to augment the acts of duty,
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  and so we actually do have Army reservists all over the world, but I
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  would say the vast majority are in America. But we do get deployed outside
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  the country on a regular basis, and that's that's kind of why we're here,
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  is to just help the the act of duty service to fulfill their mission.
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  Well, I salute you, thank you, Thank you very much Chapping
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  for sharing its moments with us and the work you're doing. Thank you well,
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  God bless thank you for your for God to say God bless you,
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  God bless you too.