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A call to the chaplaincy
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| Jeffrey Hildner talks with Colonel (Ret.) Janet Horton, Endorser
of Christian Science Chaplains for The Mother Church |
| Reprinted from the May 2006 issue of The Christian
Science Journal. |
Military chaplains accompany US forces wherever they go. Read
The Christian Science Monitor’s recent front-page story on chaplains by Patrik
Jonsson, and you’ll get a quick thumbnail of the chaplaincy’s crucial role.
You’ll learn that chaplains provide trustworthy inspiration and counsel for
soldiers in battle zones and for service members and their families facing
war’s aftermath. And you’ll learn of the urgent need—one that cuts across
denominational lines—for more chaplains to fill the ranks of the US military.
Currently, the US Army has 1,400 clergy (most are Christian,
about 30 are Jewish, and 15 are muslim), but as Mr. Jonsson reports, “The
top brass is aiming to recruit nearly 600 more chaplains to serve in the next
five years.”
In the following interview, Janet Horton, Endorser of Christian
Science Chaplains for The Mother Church, addressed this urgent need in light
of the special healing mission of Christian Science chaplains.
Colonel Horton entered the US Army as a Christian Science chaplain
in 1976 and retired in 2004. During her 28-year groundbreaking career as a
female Christian Science chaplain, she ministered to others even as she faced
down personal adversity and practiced Christian Science in a challenging environment.
She was tested early—on her first day with her permanent military
unit after basic training, she toughed out an arduous morning run, had a run-in
with an antagonistic supervisory chaplain, and then was told at her first
chapel meeting that she would not be allowed to preach.
But over time, through her steady demonstration of Christian
Science, Horton won respect as she trailblazed a path in the military not
only for Christian Science chaplains but for all female chaplains.
The first woman assigned as a Division or Corps Chaplain and
the first woman promoted to Colonel in the Army Chaplain Corps, she supervised
religious support for the Joint Task Forces in Albania, Macedonia, and Kosovo,
wrote the current revision of the Department of Defense Directive on The Appointment
of Chaplains for the Armed Forces, and developed the post-9/11 brief, “Terrorist
Mindset Divine Command Morality,” for the Distinguished Speaker Program for
the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Let’s start with some basics, Janet. What is an Endorser?
When you apply for a commission in the military as a chaplain, one of
the pieces of paper that you have to submit is an endorsement from a church
that’s registered with the armed forces. Churches that want to sponsor military
chaplains have to have someone from their church guarantee the government
that the religious ministry professionals they nominate have the appropriate
education and experience, and also meet the requirements of their church.
The government can’t say what a church’s requirements are. So someone in that
church has to say, “We are going to produce the bona fides of our religious
ministry professionals that we would lend to you to be chaplains in the military.”
That’s the role of the Endorser.
When did the office of the Endorser begin?
During World War I. In 1917 General Pershing asked for the first certification
of clergy chaplains’ credentials.
And when did the Christian Science chaplain program start?
While chaplains have accompanied the US military for over 200 years,
the first Christian Science chaplains entered the military during World War
I. Because Christian Scientists were drafted, the military had to find a way
to provide for their religious needs and their religious support. So The Mother
Church was given a small token participation in the chaplaincies through what
were called “chaplains at large.”
Are there enough Christian Science chaplains at this point?
We have very few—a total of seven. We have two in the Air Force, two
in the Navy, one in the active Army, one in the Army Reserve who’s also serving
with the active Army right now, and one of only three chaplains in the Coast
Guard.
How does that compare to the representation of other religions
and to Christian Science representation in years past?
There are well over 250 religions that, at any given time, have provided
chaplains for the military, and these religions are represented by a widely
varying number of chaplains. So representation by some of the smaller traditions
would be pretty similar to ours. Right now, we’re at an all-time low.
I would say that in many years past, when we were regularly providing
chaplains, we probably had around 25 or 30 chaplains. And that increased at
times when there was a conflict such as the Vietnam War or the Korean War.
Now again there’s a greater need because there are so many military operations
going on.
What is the fundamental purpose of a Christian Science chaplain
in the military?
As chaplains, Christian Scientists’ fundamental purpose will always
be healing, no matter where they are, including the military, where there’s
an almost ever-present opportunity to help someone one on one. If a soldier
or an airman or somebody comes to a Christian Science chaplain for counseling,
they receive a completely spiritual response, rather than a psychological
one. They get deep, prayer-based support.
So many times you’ll hear a service member leave your office saying,
“That is such an uplifting, spiritual approach to things. I never would have
looked at this problem or this challenge I’m having through that kind of specific
prayer.” There’s just a great sense of openness and depth they feel when they
talk to a Christian Scientist who’s familiar with how to give a healing treatment
when there’s a challenge.
Then there are opportunities to help the military collectively, such
as participating in prayer breakfasts and Bible study, and delivering sermons
for a general Protestant service, all of which are amazing experiences. The
“simple seekers for Truth” are really out there, hungering and thirsting.
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| The ideas of Christian Science are welcomed with open
arms. |
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The unique ideas that we learn in Christian Science—that spiritual understanding
of the Bible that brings a practical knowledge of the healing Comforter—are
just welcomed with open arms, lovingly and joyously, in the general Protestant
community.
And, of course, Christian Science chaplains minister not only to Christian
Scientists and Protestants. You are part of a network of clergy that together
provides comprehensive religious support for all people of every religion
in the military.
All chaplains have a sense of universal love for mankind, and they have
the ability to talk to a person about prayer, about God, about their relationship
to God, about a sense of peace or a sense of safety in a spiritual way. What
is special about Christian Science chaplains is that they are ideally suited
to demonstrate how powerfully and practically healing prayer can meet the
daily demands of the people who serve in this uncommonly demanding profession.
Let’s say there are Christian Scientists who feel a sense of service
stirring within them. And they want to become chaplains. Aside from church
and Department of Defense requirements [see sidebars], what other qualities
would you look for?
Well, our approach to that, of course, is a very prayerful one, and
we would be looking for solid metaphysical qualities that are clearly based
on the healing practice of Christian Science. The one that really jumps out
to me is humility. And there are others that I think are very important. You
really have to have a deep love for mankind. I think you have to understand
what it means to be ever vigilant. I call it being at spiritual attention
to God.
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| A divine sense of order is helpful because of the structure
of the military. |
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And I think you have to have a real reverence for divine Principle,
for intelligence, and to be very deeply aware of God’s omnipresence and omnipotence.
A divine sense of order is very helpful because of the structured nature of
the military. These types of characteristics form a firm foundation for a
Christian Scientist to engage in the healing practice in the military chaplaincy.
What’s the climate of receptivity in the military for a Christian
Science chaplain today?
There isn’t a lot of overt group resistance, but there is still some
covert individual resistance. But I’ve always found that prayer cuts right
through that. God produces an experience or situation that allows those challenges
to come to the surface to be healed. I think as long as I’ve known Christian
Science chaplains, they’ve all been able to see very clearly that things don’t
occur unless they occur to bless. And so the healing of these impositions
really blesses everyone involved.
For example, I was serving in the desert, and I was asked to run up
a small mountain behind our quarters with some of the other new chaplains.
Five miles out, we realized the mountain was no closer, and we had to run
back. We were deep in the desert. Because I was praying, I didn’t realize
that the male chaplains had raced ahead and had climbed into trees at the
edge of a small desert town.
Suddenly I realized why they had climbed into the trees—a pack of wild
dogs was running toward me! As they surrounded me, I prayed to know what to
do. It came to me to get down, and as I knelt, the dogs lay down, too, and
listened attentively. I spoke directly to the lead dog. What I did was literally
“preach the gospel to every creature,” as Jesus told his disciples to do.
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| I told the dogs they had a purpose. |
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I told the dogs what the Bible says: “God saw every thing that he had
made, and, behold, it was very good.” And I told them that means that they,
too, were very good. I repeated a passage from the Christian Science textbook:
“All of God’s creatures, moving in the harmony of Science, are harmless, useful,
indestructible.” I told them they had a purpose, as did I, but it wasn’t here.
I motioned with my hand that they could go.
The lead dog jumped up and left, and the others followed. The male chaplains
sheepishly came down from the trees and confessed to some rather ravenous
and hateful things they had previously been thinking about Christian Science
and women chaplains. But they said that what they had just seen was such a
remarkable healing of danger that they had completely changed their minds.
They realized that I wasn’t just a star-spangled Barbie doll and that
Christian Science healing was not a myth. They had seen with their own eyes
the power of healing prayer. This led to a deeper understanding of the practical
application of Christian Science and a more harmonious reception for women
and their place in the chaplaincy.
Paint a picture of the future. What do you see as the ideal landscape
for Christian Science participation in the military?
Well, I see ongoing healing, and in all kinds of forms, including uplifting
the view of policy at the highest strategic levels. We’ve had our chaplains
welcomed by the highest leadership of the military and the highest leadership
of the military chaplaincies because of the purity of our chaplains’ thought,
the precision of their thought, their professionalism, the kindness they have
always displayed. And so, even though our chaplains have had challenges, they’ve
always risen to positions of responsibility.
We’ve had chaplains who’ve worked in the Pentagon, advising at the Department
of Defense level, and chaplains who’ve worked in the Chiefs of Chaplains’
offices. In the past, our Chaplain Training Program candidates who were enrolled
in seminary programs, largely at Boston University School of Theology, have
been immensely appreciated for their diversity and quality of thought. I think
this kind of genuine respect and appreciation will always be the case when
people of other religions and points of view come to know us and see the day-to-day
living of the Christianity that Christian Science chaplains and candidates
display. I see that continuing.
What else would you like to communicate to readers who want to
have a fuller understanding of the purpose, mission, and effectiveness of
the chaplaincy program, and may want to participate or support it financially?
I think the Christian Science chaplaincy has represented to the military
how a church can provide chaplains who have a really great trust in the Father-Mother’s
love for everyone and a deep sense of assurance that God has an abiding care
for His children. The thing that has impelled the military to ask us to send
more chaplains has a purpose that seems very pure, very right.
I think what the military sees is our pure desire to be witnesses to
the power of the healing Christ presence. And I think because we Christian
Science chaplains study daily “A Rule for Motives and Acts,” it’s been seen
that we’ve demonstrated a clear spiritual impetus in our performance in the
military. We’ve shown in practice our scientific certainty that God is governing
and that with Him all things are possible.
"Troubled
soldiers turn to chaplains for help," The Christian Science Monitor, March
8, 2006
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| All God's creatures are useful: |
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Science and Health:
570:14-16
514:28-30
King James Bible:
Mark 16:15
Gen. 1:31 (to .)
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