DBSA conducts survey for VA peer support volunteers and staff

From the Depression and Bipolar Alliance is conducting a survey for VA peer support volunteers and staff. You can find it below:

http://www.dbsalliance.org/site/PageServer?pagename=eupdate1010#story1

They want to hear what's worked, best practices, nagging questions, areas in need of guidance, and more. So if you fit the above description, please help DBSA by taking part in the survey.

Next EVF meeting - the power of prayer over PTSD

I welcome all veterans and families and friends of veterans to the next EVF meeting, which will include a discussion about the role of prayer in dealing with PTSD and the scars of battle. I'll kick off the discussion with a few comments on Christian spiritual practices like the Jesus Prayer, Benedictine spirituality, acts of service towards others and the eucharist and then turn the floor over for questions/comments or anyone offering spiritual practices from a variety of spiritual/religious traditions.

This is an open ended conversation, not a lecture, so please be prepared to share with us your insights on this important topic.

When: Wednesday, October 6, 6pm - 8:30pm
Where: Church of the Ascension, 1133 N. LaSalle Blvd. Chicago, IL
What: Evening Prayer at 6pm. Low Mass at 6:20pm. Fellowship and discussion at 7pm.

Hope to see you there, and please tell your friends,

Jim

First meeting recap

The first meeting of the 2010-2011 season took place at Church of the Ascension yesterday. It was attended by Father Rod Reinhart of St. Joseph,St. Aidan's/ Blue Island and St. Clements/Harvey, Mother Marion Phipps of St. Hugh of Lincoln/Elgin, Tim Obrien of St. Luke's/Evanston and myself. We began the evening with the service of Evening Prayer followed by a Low Mass. We then moved next door to Wheeler Hall for pizza, chips, cake and wine over conversation about how the upcoming year will look.

The topic for our next monthly meeting will be how establishing a regular prayer life based on the Christian tradition can be a great supplement to psychological/medical treatment for veterans suffering PTSD and other ailments. The date for that meeting will be October 6 back at Church of the Ascension. Hope to see many of you there.

Before that happens, Tim and I agreed to go out to St. Hugh in Elgin on September 22 and take part in the Eucharist for Veterans there and have a talk on Ed Tick's War and the Soul afterwards. The event begins at 7pm at 36W957 Highland Ave. in Elgin. Hope to see you there as well.

First meeting of the year!

Tonight will be the first Episcopal Veterans Fellowship meeting of the 2010-2011 year.
When: 6pm - 8:30pm
What: Evening Prayer, Low Mass and a potluck meal
Where: Church of the Ascension, 1133 N. LaSalle Blvd. Chicago, IL

This meeting kicks off the third season of EVF, which looks to build on the previous two. We ended last year with a topical meeting based on a book discussion of Edward Tick's War and the Soul. We will continue the topical series for our monthly meetings (first Wednesday's of the month) after tonight's kickoff meeting, which will be a potluck meal with discussion about upcoming events.

We plan to discuss the following topics at upcoming monthly meetings:

• how to maintain a regular prayer life based in the Christian tradition (focusing specifically on Eastern Orthodox, Benedictine and Anglican traditions) and how such a routine can bring a sense of stability and peace to veterans and their families.
• how to set up veteran prayer services and eucharists in your church and home.
• Bible study for veterans, focusing specifically on the Psalms.
• how to meet the physical needs of veterans through setting up christmas gift drives, food pantries, job referrals, etc. for veterans. 
• a support meeting where military families can talk about their concerns and struggles while their loved ones are away or come home completely changed by their experiences of war. 
• How to navigate the VA system (both health and educational benefits).
• Warrior Writers Workshop for veterans.
• A reprise of Edward Tick's War and the Soul
• Possibly discuss mythologist Joseph Campbell's Hero With a Thousand Faces, a book which discusses the archetypal hero with an emphasis on the hero-warrior tradition.
• How to be a peer support specialist for veterans.

We will discuss other potential topics and come up with a master schedule for the year of monthly meetings.

We will also briefly discuss upcoming events (Veterans Day Eucharist, Diocesan Convention, EVF Seminar at Grace, Oak Park and the Christmas Gift Drive), potential upcoming events (Prayer Dinner for Military families) and how to improve this blog and create a Website for EVF.

Hope to see you there!

Jesus can cure shell shock?

Below is a link to an article I found on Truth Out about an Army Chaplain who believes that faith in Christ can heal post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI):

http://www.truth-out.org/can-jesus-cure-shell-shock61984

The article takes a negative attitude towards Command Chaplain Col. Donald W. Holdridge's remedy, which he posted in an essay on the official Army Reserve Website, which could be found here:

http://www.usar.army.mil/arweb/organization/commandstructure/USARC/OPS/200MP/UMT/PTSD/Pages/SpiritualResiliency.aspx

The author of the Truth Out article sees the Chaplain's article as "unapologetically evangelical" and that it "dangerously merges church and state." Some of the Chaplain's offenses are advising bible reading (particularly select psalms from King David) as a remedy for PTSD and linking soldiers to evangelical organizations that seek to proselytize them.

I had a mixed reaction to this article. On one hand, I can see Truthout's point. I have reservations about saying stuff on an official U.S. government Website like "If the military member knows Christ as savior, they can be assured that Jesus is with them until the end of the age (Mt.28:20)" What about those soldiers who haven't excepted Christ as savior? What about soldiers who are Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Wiccan or nothing at all? As the Army Reserve's top Chaplain, Holdridge has a special duty to serve soldiers from all religious and spiritual backgrounds, yet Holdridge limits his spiritual advice to the Bible.

Chaplains are not the same as local pastors or groups like our own, who have every right to promote their particular brand of spirituality to their practicioners through various modes of communication (personal counseling, sermons, worship services, fellowship meetings, statements on church or group-owned Websites, etc.). This is not to say that Chaplains can't limit their advice to their own tradition at tradition-specific worship services. For instance, I had the choice of Roman Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical or Episcopal services when I was stationed at Fort Meade (to my knowledge there were no Jewish or Muslim services available, but that could be because there were not enough Muslims or Jews stationed there). Either way, a military Chaplain needs to provide spiritual services to soldiers from many different backgrounds, and Holdridge failed to do this in his post published on an official government Website, and that's the thing: his Bible-specific comments were published on an official government Website, and this would seem to violate the separation of church and state (I'm no lawyer or expert on Army Regulations, so my opinion on this is limited). 

I also have problems with Holdridge using an official government Website to promote Evangelical groups like Cadence International. Though I take issue with some aspects of their theology (which can be found here: http://www.cadence.org/home/doctrinal-statement), I believe groups like Cadence have every right to reach out to servicemembers and veterans just as I believe our group has the same right. The issue is having the Army Reserve's top Chaplain promote this group on a Website that is intended for every soldier.

That being said, Holdridge provided insights on PTSD and TBI on which everyone can agree. For instance, he acknowledges several common symptons of these ailments. He also provides examples of these symptons from the life of King David, who certainly was no stranger to the stresses and psychological/spiritual consequences of combat. Here he is merely describing the life of King David, not making any spiritual prescriptions based on it. He also provides common sense yet deeply spiritual remedies like limiting intake of traumatic information, setting up a regular sleep plan, getting regular physical exercise and the like.

He wanders back into inappropriate territory, however, when he provides his prescriptions to PTSD/TBI with his ten R's - Receive the word of God. Reach out to God. Rely on God. Relegate the wicked to God. Refrain from wickedness before God. Repent of wickedness to God. Reflect on the person of God. Review the deeds of God. Rejoice in God. Record personal thoughts to God. He supports these ten R's with a list of Bible verses from the Psalms attributed to David. A Jew, Christian or Muslim may agree with these prescriptions (or not) but what about a Wiccan? A Buddhist? An agnostic who has no idea what to believe yet feels the need for spirituality?

In short, Holdridge's error is in publishing his evangelical prescriptions on an official government Website. His actions give me food for thought, though: how can Episcopal Veterans Fellowship effectively present the gospel to veterans that respects the diversity of everyone's beliefs yet remains faithful to Christ and his church? This is a distinctely Anglican question. Any thoughts?

An excellent story about how four chaplains paid the ultimate sacrifice on U.S. Warship Dorchester in the North Atlantic, which was attacked in 1943. Read more here:

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/veterans-recall-4-chaplains-who-made-ultimate-sacrifice-1.1574592

The article also talks about how "the chaplains brought more than prayer to the battlefield, they brought stability and hope." Do you know of a chaplain who helped you through a difficult time or difficult deployment? Please tell us about it.

Returning from the War Zone: Guide for Families of Military Members

An excellent link that helps families of veterans understand what their loved ones experienced while they were deployed, especially veterans that were in a war zone - which is practically every veteran these days. I think this will also be a helpful guide for our church as we strive to minister to the needs of veterans. We can't minister to veterans if we don't understand them.

http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/reintegration/guide-pdf/FamilyGuide.pdf

One of the stats that struck me the most in this guide was the war zone experiences reported by members of the U.S. military in Iraq:

Being attacked or ambushed - 60 %
Receiving incoming fire - 86 % (!)
Being Shot at: 50%
Discharged weapon: 36%
Seeing dead bodies or remains: 63%
Knowing someone seriously injured or killed - 79% (!)

These stats were based on samples of troops serving in Iraq in 2006, a very bad time to be a U.S. Servicemember in Iraq.