Remember the troops in Afghanistan and their chaplains
As we enter a new decade, let's remember to pray for British troops in Afghanistan, for their families left at home but also for the army chaplains that tend to their spiritual needs in the field.
Army chaplains are non-combatants who accompany troops and minister to their religious needs. The British Army today has more chaplains than at any time since World War II.
The job of a padre - as the army refers to its priests, chaplains and so on, is not to oil the wheels of war but to help the humanity caught up in it. They do wear fatigues, but the fact that they don't carry weapons is symbolic of their peaceful role. Needless to say it's a challenging job as chaplains wrestle with the daily reality of war and its attendant dangers, but it's also rewarding:
"I would say on a daily basis I have a quite significant spiritual conversation with someone. Often faith is very sketchy or has a fair degree of superstition in among the shreds of orthodox faith, but soldiers are spiritual beings like any other person and actually they have spiritual needs which it is a real privilege to serve. "
David Banbury, army chaplain.
Since before 1066, armies have taken clergy into war with them, but it was in 1796 that the Army Chaplains Department was formed under the first Chaplain General, Revd John Gamble. An important presence in the theatre of war, a significant number of chaplains have lost their lives and some have been taken captive, but they are perhaps best placed to remind us how important it is to pray for our troops:
"I think it's very important that they know people care for them - just because they've been told to go and do something that they may not like or believe in - it's very important that we as Christian ministers go and stand alongside them and say, "People care about you, and in those dark places that you're going to go we will go with you".
Anthony Feltham-White, army chaplain.
As we worship in the comfort and security of our parishes this Christmas and New Year, let's not forget our troops and those who minister to them in the most trying conditions.
(Quotations from the BBC)