Many times, Soldiers will ask me; “how do I become a Chaplain?” My first response is…DON’T.
This is not to be rude. In all fairness, I do point them to www.goarmy.com/chaplain and encourage them first to focus on their current schooling in Advanced Individual Training—because this is where they are right now.
This is not to shoot down their spirit. Again, I do encourage them to begin to understand what it means to pray and to grow in their faith.
And it is not to stand in their way—as I explain to them; “If you are called—nobody is going to take that away.”
But it is to echo what Jimmy Draper said at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary;
In his chapel lecture on the call to ministry, Draper said a pastor’s call will keep him faithful during difficult times and humble when people tell him how great he is.
“Without the assurance of the call of God on your life, you will not make it in ministry,” Draper said. “The ministry is a terrible vocation, but it is a wonderful calling.”
chaplainandrews.com represents the views and messages of CH(CPT) Keith J. Andrews, does not necessarily represent the views of my current commanders, the US Army Chaplain Corps, nor the U.S. Army, and seeks to uphold all OPSEC principles thus containing no operational information. Please refer to the “About” page for more information.