Five Church of God Army Chaplains Selected for Promotion to Major
Thursday, January 24th was a first for the Church of God Chaplaincy. Five Church of God Army Chaplains were selected for promotion to the rank of Major by the same promotion board. The announcement came early Thursday morning when the Army released the FY 2013 Chaplain Major Promotion Board results. Five Church of God Chaplains were among the ninety-six Chaplain Captains who were competing for the fifty-seven available Major slots. Though only 59% of the Captains considered were selected, all five of the Church of God Chaplains made the list. In the Army, selection for promotion is not based on religious affiliation, rather on individual performance and overall potential for future success. This is the first time five Church of God Military Chaplains have be considered by the same promotion board, and it is a significant event for all five to be selected.
The five Chaplains, Neal Durham, Bill Martin, Jeff Roberson, Dasha Somaratna, and Barron Wester, are representative of the outstanding clergy the Church of God provides to serve as pastors-in-uniform to the men, women, and families in the military community. These Chaplains have served at the rank of Captain for the past eight years, during which time they have ministered at the battalion level providing pastoral care to an average of 700 Soldiers and their families on an ongoing basis. They have preached, counseled, and encouraged their troops in combat and at home. The magnitude of this ministry is challenging and it demands a high level of ministerial competency. These five were not only successful, but they were selected among the best qualified of their peers to continue service at a higher rank.
The promotion to Major will bring with it both increased responsibility and broader opportunities for ministry for these Chaplains. All of them will have the responsibility to serve as a supervisory chaplain at the brigade level where they will supervise up to six subordinate chaplains having religious support and pastoral care for up to 6000 Soldiers plus families. Most of them will also be given the opportunity to attend one of a number of civilian and military schools for a year as a fulltime student to obtain advanced education in counseling, ethics, homiletics, resource management, world religion, and other specialties. Promotion to Major is a significant milestone in the career of a military chaplain. It is the norm for a chaplain to be able to complete at least a twenty-year career in the military once selected to this rank.
The Church of God can be proud of the ministry of its military chaplains who extend the compassion, concern, and support the denomination has for service personnel. The Church of God Chaplains Commission, under the leadership of Dr. Donnie Smith, works diligently to assist Church of God ministers in discerning the call to serve as military chaplains. The denomination has a history of sending forth the best-trained and gifted ordained ministers into the chaplaincy ministry. The Army’s selection of these five Church of God Army Chaplains for promotion validates the quality of clergy, and the quality of ministry, the denomination provides to the military men and women who serve us all.
(Source: Church of God Chaplains Commission)
