Standing Ready with the Gospel

by Pamela J. Nielsen

In bunkers and fighter jets, on battleships and bases, in field hospitals and training camps, the men and women of the United States Armed Forces stand at the ready in service to our country.

With them are the 160 active and Reserve LCMS Armed Forces Chaplains stationed around the world. These pastors proclaim the Word of life, in environments often shrouded in death. Their flocks frequently come and go, providing scant opportunity for longterm ministry. Their work takes place in some of the most difficult situations any pastor could ever face, where lives can be unraveled in an instant.

Upholding these faithful servants is the Ministry to the Armed Forces (MAF), the LCMS effort to care for and support military chaplains and, through them, our LCMS members and their families in uniform.

The MAF exists to recruit, prepare, endorse and support LCMS chaplains in their service to God and country.

Authorized by the Synod and registered with the Department of Defense, Chaplain Craig Muehler is the endorsing agent for LCMS military chaplains. There is a “lifelong marriage” between his office and the LCMS chaplains that includes ongoing contact and an annual visit with each chaplain. Through these visits and regular reports by phone and email, MAF helps the chaplains to stay connected with their church.

Each year, MAF gathers the chaplains at one of two training seminars, providing a rich opportunity for Lutheran worship, fellowship and study with LCMS seminary professors. Training and conversation is focused on the unique challenges of military chaplaincy.

Operation Barnabas
Operation Barnabas, an extension of MAF, provides a network of care through trained congregations that want to reach out to members of the military, their families and the veterans in their congregations and communities. Operation Barnabas has worked with dozens of congregations, but we realize hundreds more congregations also are caring for military families.

We ask you to contact us, so we can recognize your work and encourage you as you serve military families. America’s sons and daughters are in harm’s way in faraway lands, and our chaplains go with them. Their families wait in our communities, where the people of God support and care for them in our life together.

Get Involved!
• Pray for our troops
• Order MAF bulletin inserts
• Join our Operation Barnabas network