Greetings! I wanted to pass along a recruitment article I wrote regarding the CAP Chaplain Corps. It is my understanding that most local squadrons do not have active chaplains (I know this is the case in my wing). This article is written to provide clergy members with an understanding of the benefits and opportunities of CAP chaplaincy. I'm posting the link here so that users of this forum can pass it on to ministers, priests, and rabbis who may have an interest in working with CAP. Feel free to post the link wherever, but please do not reproduce the article on other sites.
Thanks!
https://shmathews.com/civil-air-patrol-chaplaincy/
One question. Does the National Chaplain know about this?
Having them "in the loop" on this could prevent problems down the road.
Phil...here is my take on the post of Chaplain, Capt Mathews:
1) the article does not need to have the Chief's "seal of approval so to speak" since it is the author's PERSONAL experience as a CAP chaplain. We encourage our chaplains (especially wing chaplains) to assist squadron commanders in recruiting. Chaplain Mathew's link provides squadron commanders who do not have a chaplain some insights into what a chaplain can do....the opportunities for service in the community ... training and benefits. It provides answers to possible questions that a potential chaplain may have. So the PERSONAL article provides an useful resource....based on one chaplain's experience. If I had written it, along with the emphasis on Cadet Programs, I would have also spoke about my experiences with ES. Again...this is HIS experience that he was sharing.
2) However, I would suggest that the article be submitted to the Chief so that it could serve as template for a brochure/pamphlet used for recruiting. Rather than having the audience that would identify with the original author, it would contain language that would be applicable to all faith groups--as well as highlighting the 3-fold mission of CAP.
3) I applaud Ch Mathews for capturing the heart and essence of the CAP Chaplaincy, his articulate sharing of his personal experience as a CAP chaplain and his willingness to assist those who do not have a squadron chaplain with a resource that could provide information to share with a potential chaplain. As my grandpa used to say. "Eat the fish. spit out the bones." As a squadron commander, I would adapt the article to fit the recruit. The squadron commander certainly could work with the wing chaplain prior to appointment for guidance as to how to present the material.
Paul, I was mostly concerned that you guys might get a few inquiries and wouldn't know where they came from.
You know, that coordination thing we talk about but so very rarely do.
Phil...copy - understand now :). Been a very long week -- and week-end :( Mind has been in a fog of shock and sorrow...and focusing on taking care of our folks and preparing for yesterday morning and this afternoon. Left yesterday @ 0430 and arrived home about an hour ago.
All,
Thanks for your insight. To answer your questions- no, Chaplain Col Hughes does not know about the article. I have had some interaction with him regarding some of my other writings, but not this one. While I can certainly understand the importance of appealing to other faith groups, this article is published on my personal website, and is intended to appeal to those within my broad religious tradition of Protestantism. While I certainly applaud the efforts of Jewish and Catholic chaplains to recruit from their own traditions, I don't feel compelled to try to do so myself. I'm speaking to protestant pastors like myself in terms that will be familiar to them, and using my own self-funded website to do so. I assume that this is in no way untoward in CAP?
Thanks for any perspective.
Chaplain, while I take your meaning of appealing to Protestantism, much of what you say here applies far beyond that to the chaplaincy as a whole. Much of what you wrote applies to (in my lay person's eyes) pretty much all manner of clergy/ministry as it relates to what they can do for the organization and what the organization can do for them. Be they Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, Catholic or, even I dare say, Lutherans. (I'm cracking wise: I'm a Lutheran..)
Recruiting chaplains is a tough gig. Perhaps even more difficult than recruiting pilots or lawyers. I bet the recruiting and retention people would love to share your message.
Quote from: NIN on July 18, 2016, 07:52:37 PM
Chaplain, while I take your meaning of appealing to Protestantism, much of what you say here applies far beyond that to the chaplaincy as a whole. Much of what you wrote applies to (in my lay person's eyes) pretty much all manner of clergy/ministry as it relates to what they can do for the organization and what the organization can do for them. Be they Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, Catholic or, even I dare say, Lutherans. (I'm cracking wise: I'm a Lutheran..)
Recruiting chaplains is a tough gig. Perhaps even more difficult than recruiting pilots or lawyers. I bet the recruiting and retention people would love to share your message.
One of my favorite theologians is a Lutheran: John Warwick Montgomery. Ironically, the most definitive curated collection of his writings is housed at a Southern Baptist seminary. I appreciate your comments, and would be glad to have the key points of my article reproduced for recruitment. I can see how the information can be useful to chaplains and officers of all stripes. What I meant in my post above is that I am familiar with Protestantism (more specifically, evangelicalism), as these are the circles in which I have ministered, studied, and written for the last 20 years. I'm not prepared to tell a Catholic priest or a Jewish rabbi how to interact with their superiors within the organizational structures of their respective religious bodies, so I'm not the one to recruit them. I'd like to see chaplains from these traditions promote CAP chaplaincy within their circles.