The recent Military.com article on dropping 180 faiths from the military’s recognized list of religions presents minimal impact to our BBFI-Endorsed Chaplains currently serving in this mission field. This response is written to note what this decision means for the chaplains we support and what aspects of their ministry are affected, if any.

The decision to drop these 180 faiths affects the military’s method of categorizing what a service member claims as their religion of choice. In other words, this is not an impact on what religions the military will allow to be represented by chaplains in their respective services. That is an entirely different topic on the military’s recognized endorsing agencies. The BBFI and over 100 other faiths are still recognized as endorsing agencies permitted to send our chaplains into all branches of the military. If a religion is not represented by a chaplain, that is due to the lack of that religion having an endorsing agency. The two times this list is most referenced are when selecting an individual’s dog tags and the chaplain’s religious assessment of their unit. This decision primarily impacts a service member when selecting the religion they wish to have displayed on their identification tags, better known as “dog tags.” They now only have 31 “recognized” options from which they can select for those tags. One example of how the decision summarized the former list of 211 to 31 is by categorizing all types of Baptists under the heading Christian – Baptist (BA).

The other instance in which this recognized list of religions is most referenced is when our chaplains do a religious support assessment of their entire unit. The assessment is conducted to learn what religions are represented by the service members in their unit in order to best perform or provide their ministry in relation to this demographic. It is an assessment that is made by any missionary as they look at the culture where God calls them to serve. One of our chaplains, CH (MAJ) Stephen Jimenez, states, “This doesn’t affect me negatively in my ministry; it strengthens my ability to do my staff work (process Religious Preference information and provide the Commander with quick and sufficiently accurate advisement).

The article neglects to stay on point with the stated purpose of this decision as it progresses through the final half of the writing, addressing only the negative expectations. As the article stated, the decision is intended to provide chaplains “with clear, readily available information that will better enable them to anticipate the religious support needs of service members and to provide religious support activities that align with [their] personal faith and practices.” If the decision accomplishes that purpose, all the numerous concerns quoted by others within the article are irrelevant. The purpose statement intends to impact individual care over and above assigning identity. Today’s culture places a high price on individual identities. It is not that different from Paul’s day, as he wrote to the Corinthians about their divisions by identification. “Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” Identity divisions are nothing new, and the military will not be the one to solve this identity challenge. 

Lastly, it is important to note that the remainder of the concerns listed in the article are best answered not by fixing a categorization process, but rather by correcting the heart of the chaplain shepherding those service members in those units. For many of the instances listed in the article, our BBFI Chaplains would consider those missed opportunities to show kindness, grace, and the love of Jesus to those of a different religion. Through BBFI endorsement, we expect that our chaplains will minister to all persons within their assigned units, perform their chaplaincy ministry in the manner of a BBFI-affiliated church, provide baptism and the Lord’s Supper under the authority of their sending church, and that they will conduct their ministry in an environment of diversity of religious beliefs and expressions through cooperation without compromise. As missionaries to our military, our chaplains pastor a local military congregation, preach regularly, shepherd their unit, and serve as staff officers advising their Command regarding religious matters. This decision aided only one area of their vast ministry. We invite our BBFI churches, pastors, and missionaries to join with us in praying over our BBFI Chaplains currently serving across the branches of the military as they face these and many other changes within their respective mission fields.

To read the article from the military go to: https://www.military.com/dod-officially-drops-180-faiths-from-militarys-recognized-religion-list

I would be happy to answer any questions you may have and can be contacted at jcatlin@bbfimissions.org.

by Jeremiah Catlin – BBFI Chaplain Endorser