JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
Team Charleston's chaplain corps hosted 23 local representatives of different faiths and religious backgrounds during Clergy Day at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, Jan 25, 2022.
Clergy Day is an opportunity for JB Charleston's chaplain corps members to strengthen relationships and keep the line of communication open with clergy members from the local community and to ensure religious accommodations are accessible to all airmen regardless of their faith and beliefs.
"We foster relationships with clergy in the local community to build a rapport with them," said U.S. Air Force Maj Robert Chandler, 628th Air Base Wing deputy chaplain. "These relationships allow us to make sure service members receive the spiritual care that they desire from their particular faith background."
The JB Charleston chaplain corps and local faith leaders work together to accomplish similar goals.
"The military is its little world," said Pastor Shaun Daley, First Baptist Church, Holly Hill S.C. "It has its own vernacular, its systems, ways and processes. Faith organizations also have their rhetoric, their own thing that they do. When the two groups can come together, I think that promotes unity and synergy."
Community partnerships like this are the chaplain corps mission and a priority to Team Charleston leaders.
"One of our wing commander's top priorities is to foster healthy relationships with the local community. The chaplain corps provides services our members need while stationed here," said Chandler. "The vast majority of our members live in the local community, not base housing. That's what makes these partnerships so important."
No matter what religious background an airman may have, military chaplain strive to meet the requested religious service observations.
"We have a responsibility equally to everyone," said Chandler. "We serve those of other faiths and those who have no faith with the same passion that we serve those from our particular faith."