Ben, one of the thrills of working around the church office building is that in the week after conference, you see dozens of men in every imaginable military uniform here for their chaplain’s training and certification. I’ve been around a lot of Mormons, and I’ve been around a lot of servicemen. There’s something about the combination that is pretty special.

Wow. It would be difficult to be an LDS chaplain, as they are ministers to a primarily protestant audience. It’s good that they’re out there though.

Ben, the son of the HPGL in my ward is in training to become an army chaplain. His dad, the HPGL, is proud of his son but wishes he had become a Marine instead, like his father.

God bless Chaplain Nathan Kline for providing a critical service to our soldiers in Iraq. Military life can be difficult even when one is not on deployment. These young men and women are blessed to have Kline and his fellow chaplains to help keep them grounded in faith and virtue.

(See, Geoff? Nothing negative here.)

Military chaplains are a special breed in any case. I had a very good experience in basic training with a protestant chaplain (Baptist, as I recall) who, despite the fact that I’m sure he had serious theological differences, showed the utmost respect for other faiths. I don’t know whether he knew there were two LDS men in my platoon or not, but in our initial orientation with him, he made a point of stating that if any LDS soldiers were given trouble over wearing their priesthood garments, they were to contact him and he would see that it was corrected.

The very fact that these men are required to minister to those of various faiths leads them to be open-minded, humble and respectful. I salute *all* of them, not just those who happen to be LDS.

Thanks for that link. I find military chaplains fascinating, and LDS chaplains even more so.

Does anyone know what the official LDS stance is on LDS chaplains performing non-LDS ordinances? Late rites, christening, etc.

Mike, #4, I like the new Mike Parker. Now all I need is a comment agreeing with me on economic policy (where I am close to a Libertarian) and we will be eternally singing kumbaya together.

Daylan, based solely on what I read in the blog linked to, LDS chaplains are not allowed to perform them. Nathan Kline says, “Because my denomination restricts me from performing or participating in communion or the Eucharist outside our denomination, I must PROVIDE this for the Soldiers in my care. I do this by coordinating with another Protestant chaplain who does not have these same denominational restrictions. Similarly, Sergeant Tremain, each Saturday, goes to Camp Ramadi with a convoy of gun trucks to retrieve Chaplain Barkemeyer: a Catholic priest who PERFORMS mass for those here at Camp Blue Diamond.” (See http://chaplainkline.blogspot.com/2007/06/battlefield-worship.html)

Thank you so much. I intend to visit his blog regularly. You get better info that way than CNN or FOX.

International Bible Society has a “Military Chaplain Bible Fund”, to which you can donate money to be used to supply Military chaplains with Bibles.

http://www.ibsdirect.com/mcbf

For every $3.50 you donate, they send a specially sized, soft-but-durable cover Bible to any mil-chaplain who requests them. The special size fits the uniform cargo pocket. The $3.50 ea includes the cost of shipping the Bibles.

You can donate online, or mail in a check.

The translation used is “NIV”, which I think is kind of close to the alternate translations used in our LDS KJV Bible footnotes. Also available to the chaplains are NVI for Spanish.

Give them a link on your blog. I did, and shortly thereafter, my tracking service showed a bunch of hits from an IBS-owned IP and domain.

I’m a regular customer of IBS.

What a pleasant surprise it was to stumble upon this conversation. Much of what I do as a chaplain in combat goes unnoticed, and I regret the blessings and joy I receive from my service is not appreciated as much as it could be. This is one of the reasons I keep my blog. The comments posted here reassure me in this regard. Please visit my blog regularly and continue to pray for our Soldiers/Marines and their families? Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have related to my and my family’s ministry to Soldiers.

Respectfully,

Nathan Kline
Ar Ramadi, Iraq

Nice thread. Stumbled upon it accidentally as I was checking out a story on this site about the connection between Battlestar Galactica (one of my favorite shows) and Mormonism. Saw this thread on the sidebar and have enjoyed reading it.

I too am an LDS Chaplain in Iraq (my third tour of the war; one deployment to Afghanistan and now two to Iraq). I have proudly worn the chaplain’s cross on my uniform for seven years now and I can say unequivocally that after 25+ years in the Army (Reserve, Guard, and Regular Army) and four different MOS’s (Military Occupationational Specialities), that is the best job I’ve had in the Army. I get to help so many wonderful men and women in uniform, the best that America has to offer.

I highly recommend this job to any prospective LDS chaplains out there (see http://www.lds.org for more details). We need more folks. We badly need the influence of the Priesthood in today’s military. And the job is a lot of fun. I’ve jumped out of planes at Fort Bragg, NC, lived in the paradise of Hawaii, and served my country at a time of war overseas in the Middle East. I do lots of counseling, preach in Protestant services along with those of other denominations, teach many different classes, perform weddings, and honor the fallen in funerals and memorial ceremonies. If you enjoy “feeding [the Lord's] sheep”, then this is the perfect job for you.

I add the same offer to Nate’s: contact me if you would like to know more about the tremendous blessing the chaplaincy has been for me and my family.

Chris Degn
Kirkuk, Iraq

Where do you find LDS services in iraq? Near CopRawah?

Are there any female LDS chaplains in Iraq?

Just for information I was reading on the internet about the Rapid Deployment Kit through the military ministry.org Interesting reading.
I was interested in knowing what our LDS Chaplins were doing? Does the LDS church send out pocket size bibles to our troops?
Second question How can a person locate a retired Chaplin in the Army? If you have answers please e-mail me.