By Capt. Robert W. “Bill” Johnson
I fondly remember growing up and listening to my father and both of my grandfathers as they preached against sin, heaven, hell, and God’s judgment most every Sunday. Yet I never heard a word about our military families, and Vietnam was in session. Now that I’ve grown up, my father has retired, and my grandfathers are deceased, I find myself preaching every Sunday to a very interesting and changing congregation, that of an Air Force chapel family.
Pastor, who sits in your congregation every Sunday? Even if you pastor a rural church as a bi-vocational pastor and you know all your parishioners by name, do they have military relatives who are fighting terrorism or have died fighting for the sake of freedom? What about our megachurch pastors who may not know all their members by name, much less, what their occupation is — did you have any visiting military members last Sunday in your pews? I am quite sure someone from the military has visited your church within the past year, or at least since September 11, 2001, when terrorist hit us, and hit us hard!
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Read carefully the following versus of Scripture as it relates to our congregation and those in our charge:
Know well the condition of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds. (Proverbs 27:3)
As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. (Ezekiel 34:12)
Several questions must be asked: 1) What is the condition of your flock? 2) How well are you paying attention to your flock? 3) How do you care for them? and 4) Were there any military in your congregation that are no longer there (scattered) because you did not care for them? These questions may elicit several responses. One may be that of embarrassment — “I don’t know the true state of my flock.” Trying to keep in touch with our congregants can be a tiring matter, often non-rewarding, frustrating, and sometimes the thought of quitting does surface. This is not an article on “how to” or “why” you should stay in the ministry but one that will give you a few ways to keep up with your military visitors and to preach to their needs.
Welcoming military families
Allow me to share one area of your church ministry that will have significant impact on any military member that visits your church. If you have not done so already, simply add the following to your visitor welcome card and you will strike gold! Military families have unique challenges that I will address later, but upon reading that they are welcomed and recognized via a card, you now have their attention. The below is a simply a suggested format.
Are you in the military? Yes / no