Changing roles of the Chaplain Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Changing roles of the Chaplain - Thesis Example Wars bring trauma to military men who are trained to fight in such events. Could this bring more than trauma to those people who are sent to wars who were not trained and not meant to be there in the first place? Chaplains are normally ordained and are officially endorsed clergy of some recognized religious body; however, some people do function as volunteer chaplains without ordination and/or endorsement. The chaplain ministry has grown rapidly over the last fifty years as both the Church and institutional settings have recognized the great need for such a ministry model and have worked to develop a mutually acceptable relationship between the institution and religious ministry.† James Johnson was a chaplain in the Vietnam War. He was sent there in 1967. In his book, Combat Chaplain: A Thirty-year Vietnam Battle, he wrote that he was only 26 years old then when he was sent to Vietnam. There he had 350 young soldier/parishioners. Johnson further stated what he felt as he and other GI soldiers went back to the United States in 1968. The author said, â€Å"So many of them have gone home in body bags. My feelings are a mixture of gladness, sadness, and grief tinged with guilt. I’m making it out and they didn’t (1-2).† Instead of giving focus to the enemies, military men are also given additional task to look after these personnel who were not trained for combat. It is not an easy task for chaplains to perform the things that they were trained to do in a place being where people are killing each other, man against man, brothers against brothers. In every religion, it is being taught that every human being should learn to love his or her man as they may not be brothers by the flesh but they are brothers by blood. In Gun Totin Chaplain, author Jerry Autry was also sent to the Vietnam War as a chaplain. There he made a realization and conclusion that war chaplains are not just tasked to perform