- Discipleship & spiritual formation
What’s the longest you or your church has ever spent reflecting on a major decision?
Christ Proclamation Church and pastor Steve Thiel invested six months to answer one question: Should Thiel become a Connecticut Air National Guard chaplain? Over time, the church came to value the needs of 1250 airmen only 10 miles away.
“It’s just been an absolutely fantastic way to love people, care for people, minister the gospel,” Thiel said. “The Air National Guard is an outworking of my ministry.”
What happened in the six months leading up to pastor Thiel becoming a chaplain?
- His daughter Gabi wanted to enlist in the guard, and Thiel learned he could be a chaplain.
- A wing chaplain met Thiel for lunches and later met with the church’s elders.
- Christ Proclamation Church gathered for question-and-answer times of learning and praying.
- Thiel was sworn in and did nine weeks of basic training and officer training.
“I didn’t want to be away from my church, but we viewed it as this necessary step in order to open the opportunities of ministry,” Thiel said. “In order to talk to those 1250 people, these were the things we needed to go through.”
The guard has equipped Capt. Thiel to help airmen be resilient through marriage therapy, financial counseling, leadership training and mental health interventions.
An airman contemplating divorce talked to Thiel earlier this year. But Capt. Thiel taught the man marriage skills, and now the man sacrificially serves his family.
In August, a couple called Thiel after their newborn son died. They didn’t have a church but asked if Thiel would officiate the baby’s funeral.
“They’re not in my church,” he said. “They’re in the community, but they needed a chaplain.”
He can be that chaplain because Christ Proclamation, a Converge Northeast church, wants to serve their neighbors at Bradley Air Force Base.
“The church is not viewing the Air National Guard as a second job or taking away from my ministry,” he said. “The church was excited about the opportunity and continues to be so.”
Converge endorses chaplains to help care for the spiritual well-being of military members and veterans, as well as the staff, residents and guests of health care and correctional facilities. Learn more about becoming a Converge-endorsed chaplain.
