Contact Information:

Telephone: (719) 337-0217
FAX: (303) 843-6768

Mailing Address:
PO Box 4478
Englewood CO, 80155-4478

E-mail:
info@yfcmym.org

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If you're an executive director (or other Para-church leader) and you have little to no experience with the military you could think of your local installation as its own town. The mayor would be titled something like installation commander. Installations usually have two parts; the garrison, a few units of people, buildings, property etc... Basically everything that would stay if the "tenant" units went elsewhere. The second group is the tenant organizations. These are the units who would deploy if called away. Within the installation you have a base or post exchange which would be like the Wal-Mart. The super market is called the commissary. The installation probably has it's own pool, housing, medical facility, fire station, theater etc... Somewhere on the installation is a chapel (s) you can think of as a church! It's like its own town!

Virtually every installation has a installation chaplain and a building (s) called a chapel. Depending on the size of the installation, there maybe multiple chaplains and even multiple chapels. The good news is there is probably one chaplain responsible for the entire installation. And even though there maybe many chapels only a few will serve the whole family. Can you imagine a city where there is one single pastor able to speak for all religious activity? Additional information will be available in "What are chaplains and why are they so important?"

An excellent reference for finding out more information about a particular installation is their installation website. Just do a Google search. What you are particularly looking for are indicators for potential ministry. Examples of ministry indicators are number of dependents, schools, housing areas, etc...

Additionally here are some general facts about the military family you might find interesting. For reference you can look at the Military Family Resource Center.

The active duty force has one officer for every 5.3 enlisted personnel.

Over one-third (35.8%) of active duty members identify themselves as a minority. Minorities over 5% are African American (20%) and Hispanic (9%).

There are fewer active Duty members than family members.

The largest group of active Duty Dependants is from 0 to 5, and there are about 300,972 between the ages of 12 though 18 years old.

The ranks with the most children between 12 and 18 are, mid level officers and (04-06) and medium to senior enlisted (E5-E9).

85% of active duty members are located in the US or US Territories.

The average age of military members 36 and older is about 21% of the active duty and they represent the primary group with students 12 and above.

Only 39% of spouses are not in the work force so about 61% of military families are either dual military or have both parents involved in the work force.

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Chaplains are the key to the religious activity of the entire installation. The Chaplains serve as special staff officers to their respective commanders. The function of chaplains is to ensure the religious rights of every military member and their dependants. In this regard they function as pastors, counselors and special needs chaplains.

They can serve across a broad spectrum of positions like; pastor, administrators, funds managers, counselors, hospital chaplains, chapel pastors etc...They are from multiple denominations and in their capacity as chaplains are present to either perform or provide religious service to all faith expressions. Statistically most chaplains are Christian, but every chaplain is responsible to ensure the free expression of the religious rights of military member and their dependants. All Chaplains wear two hats. They are military officers but they are also endorsed by their denomination as a denominational representative. Because of these dual hats chaplains would never be asked to compromise the essential tenants of their denomination. However they are also asked to work congenially with all other faith groups. Many military chaplains love their role and enjoy the culture and opportunities represented by their service in the military.

Chapels are the buildings normally associated with the religious community of an installation. It is not uncommon for a chapel to be associated with several congregations, each with their own style of worship. Protestants tend to be loosely "lumped" together. The variety of services can include mainline, seeker, contemporary, high church or Gospel expression.

Some Chapels are very old, historic, and reflect the architecture and decorum of a particular denomination. Newer chapels were built to be multi-purpose and value denominational neutrality. They can also be anywhere in between. An example would be that many times the Crosses in the front of the sanctuary are multipurpose. They can be completely removed, or on one side of the cross it is plain, while on the other side there is a crucifix. The cross then can be removed or turned around, depending on the congregation!

None of this is wrong it's just probably different for you if you've never experienced the military! Please read, "The CHAPLAIN is the key." Some will try to go around this through influential active duty or retired individuals, but they will learn, "Chaplains are the Key."

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Military youth, ages 12-18, are like most students you encounter everyday. They are in that part of life where they are figuring out who they are. Individually they have entered a stage of life where they are "separating" from their families. They did not choose the military life like their parents. But because their parents are military, they could well have lived in a different home every 2 to three years until they became teenagers. Families desperately need for their children to experience support and adult connections that come from being stabilized in a community. Youth ministry can be one of those support systems. It is safe to say that the majority of Military students would have never experienced quality and dynamic youth ministry.

Youth could generally be described as somewhat affluent with a kind of suburban/urban mind set. These students are so diverse! If as an executive director you were to begin to undertake a strategy with chaplains to "engage" this niche ministry the beginning place would be as a new club start. There is no exact template for every situation. Military students would need to be "taught" to be involved and you would find that in many instances their parents would also be fairly new to the idea of supporting youth ministry efforts.

Military families are the best. Forget post modern, think modern and traditional. They do believe in right and wrong. They are highly patriotic and loyal. They are also displaced and constantly in transitions. As a generalization they run the array from home schooled mega-conservatives with the family values of the Cleavers to multi-divorced single parent homes where alcohol has intertwined itself into the fabric of their enmeshed chaos. Multiply either scenario by the circumstances of increased operational tempo, families relocating every 2-3 years, absence of grand parents, overseas assignments, deployments to war and you begin to get the picture.

There is no single military family model. However you would find an unbelievable amount of family services and initiatives by the military to assist the military family. A local ministry center could become one of these initiatives. The motivation comes from the top leadership of the military. Military leaders love these men and women who have given their all to serve their country. They also know that quality of life for families is a key contributor to retention. Chaplains are one of the resources commanders use in their initiatives. That is why so often chaplains desire youth ministry as a component of their religious programming. Commanders and Chaplains know what executive directors know on a daily basis, "Families are desperate to help their children with life tools." Faith is one of those essential tools to balanced life. If you're in a military town that dominants the city/town culture why aren't you asking chaplains if they would be interested in working together on behalf of youth? "OH and by the way Chaplain, our public schools are filled with your kids!"

However one of the challenges of attempting to provide youth ministry in the military is that families will have forgotten or probably not be familiar with how to support a youth ministry effort. Parents may have had great youth ministry opportunities as a high school student but they also experienced youth ministry when they were younger. Then they entered the military, maybe by marriage, and didn't need or desire youth ministry for over twelve years. Chapels and families will need to be taught how to support and benefit from a youth ministry. If the Chaplain and other support systems are not invested or don't understand how to help it's a tough road.

One of the most focused places families gather together in the military, are military chapels. These congregations are very diverse. You can go to a unit chapel and see three servicemen who just "always" go to church or you can go to a thriving family friendly chapel where multiple services are conducted because of the demand. Generally every chapel is run by a chaplain who is the pastor or priest of that congregation. Some chapels also have parish councils or advisory groups. Regardless the chapel pastor is held completely responsible for whatever happens or does not happen by the installation chaplain and their commander.

Generally speaking one area that struggles for adult leadership is the chapel youth for ages 12-18. There are a lot of reasons chapel youth groups struggle; inexperience, training, lack of continuity or resources, continual transition of adult leadership and/or volunteers etc? Each of these "reasons" represents an opportunity for a ministry center to assist chaplains in their desire to help military families or support military youth. Secondly in twenty years I have never seen an intentional and sustained ministry effort directed at military students who do not attend the chapel.

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The very best thing you could ever do is solid ministry in local schools. Gaining and building momentum and community visibility is the way to go. In the US the vast majority of military students go to public schools. Place yourself in a position to understand what your already doing or would desire to do for the military before you go to chaplains to begin a relationship. There are currently 210 military installations in the US. Over half have a Para-church ministry in the same town or within 25 miles. Only 7% of these installations have contracted outreach services with organizations.

At a point of organizational health when it would be timely to make the connection with chaplains begin to think of a relationship. All starting places begin with dialogue. Begin in you're board, not with chaplains. If you are in a military town it is very likely that your board's circle of influence contains significant connections with the military. Explore those connections. Develop a board champion and point person for this initiative. Eventually they will go with you to visit the chaplain. Begin to think through what a win-win situation for your ministry center would look like. I have provided a chart that will help you see what chaplains generally expect and some of the limitations you will encounter. See; Working together with the Military. Between understanding what your already doing for the military in local schools, a "champion" for this initiative, and a framework for what military chaplains would expect your in an excellent position to start.

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Begin to pray and vision cast. Share your direction with others. What are you willing to be a part of, risk, or invest, etc?

Consider reading the page titled, "Chaplains & DRE Informaiton." Examine some issues and factors that come into play for chaplains.

Watch the movie "When we were Soldiers" with Mel Gibson. A link is provided to further examine some of the insights and statements this movie is making about the military family and culture. www.weweresoldiers.com or www.hollywoodjesus.com/we_were_soldiers.htm.

Watch a documentary called, "Brats Our Journey home" which can be purchased at bratsourjourneyhome.com.

Identify 10 families through your board and consider asking them to support this ministry through prayer and finances

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The following are some "broad strokes" that are about possibilities. They could serve as the conclusions of dialogue between executive directors and chaplains as they decided to move forward together because of the mutual benefits. Youth Ministry is not new to the military; they have contracted youth ministry services in Europe for over 25 years. There are at least two organizations that do ministry with military students exclusively. The model that is currently used is primarily a contractual model for services rendered. However since the nature of this ministry is contracted services, military chaplains and parents have fallen into a paradigm of ministry that doesn't recognize the potential for ministry below contracting. Anything listed below could be accomplished without a contract.

5 Things a local YFC ministry center could offer a Military Chaplain

- A chapel connected and school focused outreach ministry
- Youth ministry training for Volunteers who help in military chapels
- Invitations to YFC Regional and local events
- Ministry continuity in a very transitional community
- Opportunities for connection between Campus Life and CLMS and chapel youth ministry efforts

5 Things a Military Chapel Connection could do for a local YFC ministry center

- Provide inroads and access into the military community in your town
- Promotional visibility
- Financial support through designated offerings
- Opportunities for highly qualified and skilled leaders and volunteers
- Special Project support

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Start without the Chaplains understanding and permission on their installation! Whatever you do off the installation is not really an issue. But, and you won't understand this until you see the incredible way the military is networked, you cannot effectively engage the military community without the Chaplains permission and investment.

Another cliff to walk off is to promise or try to become something you don't already do well. If you don't have "show and tell" ministry going or your really not ready for "niche" ministry. Look at the sample document of what a Win, Win, relationship might look like for a local ministry center called, "Working together with the Military."

Allow the conversation or relationship to start with money. Talk ministry! Eventually financing the ministry will come about and then it's time to be honest about costs and understand your own thresholds.

Examples:
I can do this level of ministry at no cost because I'm doing it anyway.
If you want to send volunteers or students to this event this is the cost.
If you want the focused effort of an individual this would be my costs.

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Ministry costs money and the real cost for ministry should be identified and pursued. Initially you may consider using your military ministry champion within your board and ask them to assist you in raising those resources within interested community supporters. This should be done by connecting the appeal to either a goal; expanding ministry, or; enhancing ministry. In the beginning the finances might be quite small but as ministry expands and finally a staff person is needed the financial requirement will be much greater.

At some point as the relationship with the chaplains grows they can be asked to participate by giving a designated offering. This is the money given on a Sunday morning in chapel. This can be done on an individual chapel or installation wide level, depending on the chaplain's interest.

Eventually ministry might lead to discussions about contracts. This is usually because the chaplains desire a particular level of service that would best be provided for by a contract. The primary advantages of a contract is they "formalize" the relationship. There are also disadvantages such as responsibility, tasks etc... But contracts do provide for access, stability and financial resources. YFC has a long standing partnership with a military youth serving organization called Military Communities Youth Ministry (MCYM). MCYM is the YFC/USA contracting agent for military contracts and can serve chaplains and ministry centers in maneuvering the contracting process.

For the chaplains there is a learning curve that will come when it comes to the financing youth ministry. Many chaplains are not aware of the costs of Para-church ministry. They are primarily shielded because those costs are incurred by adult supporters. This is especially true for adult serving ministries which operate in the military. It will be necessary to educate chaplains as to the true cost of ministry. For example a chaplain may think they are being very generous by underwriting the entire cost of a retreat but never even consider the staff person raised their salary to lead the retreat.

Chaplains have financial resources. Anything they ask for they should be asked to support by being financially involved. You don't want to get in the situation where you basically teach them that the ministry center will pick up the tab. The converse is if it's things your asking to do for the installation, say for publicity or promotion purposes, the ministry center should pick up that tab.

Chaplains can be involved in many levels. Outright they can do contracts, designated offerings, and scholarship military students directly. In the background they can be supportive of off base fundraising events, encouraging families to become involved in monthly support, identifying key adults for boards etc..

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"The chaplain doesn't want a relationship so I'll just go around." This doesn't work in the military. You may get your way short term because you know a "Christian" commander. When they leave, and they will, the chaplains will still be there. It's better to just wait; the next chaplain could be different.

"I'll figure out how to pay for it later." Yeah, right. Be honest through the process. Keep your board with you and make sure chaplains understand the real cost of ministry as it moves forward.

Here is an attitude that will not serve you well, "It's just like out in town." It's not. The military has it's own rules and culture. Think of "7 Habits of Highly Effective" to the max, accountability and a fierce commitment to integrity. The only way to survive is planning, sensitivity, and having a commitment to being a "listening learner" and you'll do fine.

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