The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) has praised RAF chaplains for their “invaluable pastoral role in both peacetime and in times of war".
Rt Rev Dr Trevor Gribben was meeting PCI chaplains and senior officers at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire and RAF High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire and was accompanied by the Convener of PCI's Armed Forces' Panel, Very Rev Dr Rob Craig. They also visited the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, which is also in Oxfordshire.
The visit came just a week after RAF fighters were deployed over Poland in response to Russian incursions of Polish airspace. Dr Gribben said:
“One of the privileges of being Moderator for a year is getting to visit places you would never have visited, and meeting people you wouldn’t normally get to meet. This is especially true of colleagues who have been obedient to the call of God on their lives and serve Him in very different areas of ministry, which includes our Forces Chaplains...
“As a denomination, we have a long pastoral association with the UK’s three services and are one of the recognised ‘Sending Churches’, having ‘sent’, or provided chaplains, or padres, to the military for over 100 years. Today, PCI has 11 full-time and part-time forces chaplains, many of whom have supported their comrades on active service overseas.”
To become a padre, ministers go through the same selection and rigorous training as other serving personnel. Deploying overseas when necessary, they often leave their families behind for long periods of time. Chaplains also wear service uniform, but unlike their colleagues do not carry weapons.
Speaking about Forces Chaplaincy, Dr Gribben continued, “As our chaplains support personnel and families in all three services, one of my predecessors described Forces Chaplaincy as ‘a unique kind of ministry’ and it is. Meeting our padres, hearing their experiences, and learning more about their pastoral role was important, and I valued our time together, which included a time of prayer.
“In their special calling, like their comrades in the other services, they play an invaluable pastoral role in both peacetime and in times of war. As they support service personnel of faith and no faith in these uncertain times, they are deserving of our prayers.”