Results & ECA Progress

It sounds like the interview went great. While Mr. H. was in KC, heading to the meeting spot, the Chaplain called him and switched locations on him. When Mr. H. got to the interview, the Chaplain mentioned that he was glad Mr. H. could rearrange his plans at the last minute because that's what military life is all about. So, we are wondering if switching the plans last minute was kind of a test. Anyway, Mr. H. passed!

Towards the end of the interview, Mr. H. was told that he will make a fine Navy Chaplain. I don't know how much weight this guy holds, but it does sound like he will write a good recommendation for Mr. H. and that can't hurt.

He was emailed a list of questions that he was to answer and bring with him. While I would love to share his answers with you all, I don't have his permission and he's funny about that kind of thing. I will tell you the last answer though, because I'm with him on that!

Some of the questions Mr. H. had to answer were the following:

1. Tell me a little about your spiritual journey, and how you came to discern a call from God to ministry.

2. Why do you want to be a Navy Chaplain?

3. What is your concept of Institutional Ministry?

4. What has been your experience working with clergy of other faith groups. And do you feel you can minister to a Muslim, or Wiccan, etc.?

5. Will you be able to work with/for men/women?

6. What has been your greatest challenge in ministry?

7. What do you think is your greatest strength?

8. How have you and your family dealt with the possibility of you going into harm’s way?

9. As a pastor in a civilian parish you’ve been “in charge.” How do you feel about working on a staff with multiple chaplains and being the junior person? What if you don’t agree with the senior person on how he/she is handling things?

10. What would be your dream duty station if you could be detailed anywhere you wanted to go? ITALY

Next up is scheduling his MEPS appointment. If that all goes well, he will be flown to Washington DC to meet with a board of chaplains. Mr. H. would like for me to go (on his dollar), but I don't know if that will work out. I don't exactly know when this will take place. I think there's a board meeting in September and one in October. We don't know if we'll have all our ducks in a row by September, so we'll see.

We received an email from ECA that all of Mr. H.'s endorsement paperwork has been filed. Now we wait for them to approve him. In the email it said they can process up to 200 applications at any given time. I have been pleased with how quickly they've responded in the past, so I don't think it will take longer than a few weeks.

Stay tuned.....