DENVER (ELCA) -- Military chaplains do more than just "stay with the troops," said Lt. Col. Howard D. Stendahl, in greetings Aug. 22 to the 1999 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Churchwide Assembly. Stehdahl is an ELCA pastor serving Randolph Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.
The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, met Aug. 16-22 here at the Colorado Convention Center. There were more than 2,500 people participating, including 1,038 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly was "Making Christ Known: Hope for a New Century."
Stendahl, a 1991 recipient of the Bronze Star Medal, Outstanding Among Deployed Chaplains, said chaplains work with troops on U.S. bases and overseas, with veterans, and those in federal prisons. He recently returned from a two-year term of service in Stuttgart, Germany, where he worked as an engagement officer to build chaplaincy programs in eastern European countries.
Stendahl said he worked with others to help establish human rights in those countries. "Religion is a basic human right. We were helping those who may not have a voice have religious freedom," he said. In an interview, Stendahl said he worked in Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and other counties.
He told a story of a Roman Catholic church in Croatia that had been "rocketed and destroyed by Serbs." All four priests and seven of the 11 nuns were killed, and the remaining four nuns carried on the ministry in a basement, he said. When a house was built for the nuns, Stendahl paid a visit. The nuns served homemade bread and opened the only bottle of wine they saved from their basement home.
Stendahl said one of the nuns told him, "We thank God for you. You bring us hope for freedom again."
"I was humbled by the heroes of the faith," he said.
"We engaged and made friends with nations that were formerly enemies," Stendahl said in an interview. He added that friendships came through reconciliation and peace-making.
"Chaplains are soul care-givers," Stendahl said.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
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Candice Hill Buchbinder
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