Military, health-care chaplains meet at Harding Grad School

Some of the military and health-care chaplains pose for a group photo during the recent conference. (Photo provided by Mark Parker)

Military and health-care chaplains associated with Churches of Christ gathered recently at Harding University Graduate School of Religion in Memphis, Tenn.
The Hope and Healing Conference “brought together these highly trained ministers who work together in ministries that differ from local church work,” said Mark Parker, Harding Grad’s assistant vice president and director of admissions.
Attendees included chaplains from the Army, Navy and Air Force as well as hospitals and hospice programs.
“We realized that chaplains serve in a very important way, but they don’t have the support system a local minister might,” said Larry Arick, Harding Grad’s director of advancement. “We wanted this conference to bring together those in our fellowship who can lean on each other for support.”

Cmdr. Leanne Braddock (Ret.) is a clinical program analyst for the Navy Operational Stress Control Program in Millington, Tenn. (Photo provided by Mark Parker)

The conference dovetailed with the annual Leadership Council Dinner inaugurating a new scholarship for Harding Grad students preparing for chaplaincy, Parker said.
“The conference was designed for peer learning,” said Evertt W. Huffard, Harding Grad’s vice president and dean. “So each presentation brought experts from the field with current, firsthand knowledge and experience to share.”
Don Taylor, the military’s Church of Christ endorsing agent under the oversight of the Fairfax Church of Christ in Virginia, updated participants on the state of military chaplaincy.
Virgil Fry, executive director of Houston-based Lifeline Chaplaincy, spoke on the role of hope based on his work in health-care chaplaincy.

Evertt W. Huffard, right, vice president and dean of Harding University Graduate School of Religion, leads a prayer. With him is Virgil Fry, executive director of Houston-based Lifeline Chaplaincy. (Photo provided by Mark Parker)

Group sessions for military and hospital chaplains were led by Charles McField of Kansas City, Mo., George Hankins or Cincinnati, Bruce Mentzer of Bethesda, Md., and Les Maloney of Fort Sill, Okla.