{"id":3549,"date":"2007-05-28T19:10:51","date_gmt":"2007-05-28T19:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=3549"},"modified":"2010-12-13T10:19:06","modified_gmt":"2010-12-13T15:19:06","slug":"5607","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/05\/28\/5607\/","title":{"rendered":"Covenant Pastor Named Naval Chaplain of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 28, 2007) \u2013 U.S. Navy Chaplain Lt. John Anderson has been chosen for the military branch\u2019s Distinguished Chaplain Award\u2014the equivalent of chaplain of the year.
\n
\n\"\"Anderson is an ordained Evangelical Covenant Church minister who formerly served as associate pastor at Redeemer Covenant Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota.<\/p>\n

The Military Chaplains Association chose Anderson based on a nomination by the Navy\u2019s Chief of Chaplains. A chaplain in each branch of the service is honored annually.<\/p>\n

Awards were presented during a special service May 17 in San Antonio, Texas, but Anderson was unable to attend because he recently was transferred to the Naval Station in Rota, Spain. The station, which the Navy calls the \u201cGateway to the Mediterranean\u201d is located near the Strait of Gibraltar and services the U.S. Sixth fleet.<\/p>\n

Anderson has been a Navy chaplain only since 2002, but his creative service in Iraq attracted international attention. Media outlets featured stories on him leading worship in the \u201cSoul Train,\u201d an old railroad car he converted into a chapel, and his \u201cHe-Brews\u201d coffee shop<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He served free coffee to thousands of Marines in the hotly contested war zone of Al Anbar Province. Covenant churches helped supply him the coffee.<\/p>\n

He did far more than serve \u201ca cup of Joe,\u201d however, having accompanied soldiers during four combat operations. The nominating letter submitted by his supervisory chaplain stated, \u201cHis presence during an attack on an assault amphibious vehicle during Operation Matador proved to be invaluable as he assisted corpsmen in getting water and burn gel to burn victims, helped coordinate getting men to the evacuation site, and provided spiritual comfort and care to wounded and dying men.\u201d<\/p>\n

The nominating documents also note his writings that have been used by the Navy for suicide prevention and focusing on maintaining morality in a combat zone. He co-produced an addendum to the Navy Suicide Prevention Training program and \u201cused this new approach to train small-unit leaders in the battalion, resulting in 0 suicide incidents with only 1 individual needing command-level intervention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, the documents state, \u201cHe single-handedly developed a \u2018Moral Compass\u2019 pocket card that his Commanding Officer requires all his marines and sailors to review (as they prepare for their tour of combat duty).<\/p>\n

He was the sole chaplain for 1,100 people in the 3D Battalion 2D Marines. \u201cHow many churches would have only one pastor for 1,100 people?\u201d asks Covenant minister James Erickson, a rear admiral with the U.S. Public Health Service.<\/p>\n

The Marine battalion with which Anderson served during his first deployment in Iraq appreciated his ministry so much that they made the unusual request he be re-assigned to them during his second tour.<\/p>\n

In response to the request, Anderson said at the time, \u201cI know that they appreciate the spiritual care that I provide them and, having known me for this long, the men trust me and are very comfortable approaching me. They also know that I love them, love being their chaplain, and would do anything to provide care for them.\u00a0But they also know that I\u2019m not going to get them in a circle and sing Kumbaya<\/em> or hold hands and hum Feelings<\/em>.\u00a0 Basically, it\u2019s spiritual care on testosterone!\u201d<\/p>\n

Anderson still maintains close ties with the congregation he formerly served. Steve Larson, pastor of Redeemer Covenant, says, \u201cThis congregation is just endeared to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

During a recent visit, Anderson presented the church with the American flag that flew over the command center to which he was deployed in Iraq. The flag currently is displayed in the church\u2019s central hallway and later will be moved to the prayer room.<\/p>\n

Anderson\u2019s wife, Pamela, and daughter, Tiffany, have moved to Spain with him.<\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 28, 2007) \u2013 U.S. Navy Chaplain Lt. John Anderson has been chosen for the military branch\u2019s Distinguished Chaplain Award\u2014the equivalent of chaplain of the year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nCovenant Pastor Named Naval Chaplain of the Year - Covenant Newswire Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/05\/28\/5607\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Covenant Pastor Named Naval Chaplain of the Year - Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 28, 2007) \u2013 U.S. Navy Chaplain Lt. John Anderson has been chosen for the military branch\u2019s Distinguished Chaplain Award\u2014the equivalent of chaplain of the year.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/05\/28\/5607\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-05-28T19:10:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2010-12-13T15:19:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/R_\/J6\/R_J6Qo2PmHCcMayv379jmA\/0525-Anderson-train-chapel.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/28\\\/5607\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/28\\\/5607\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\"},\"headline\":\"Covenant Pastor Named Naval Chaplain of the Year\",\"datePublished\":\"2007-05-28T19:10:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-13T15:19:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/28\\\/5607\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":621,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/28\\\/5607\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.covchurch.org\\\/uploads\\\/R_\\\/J6\\\/R_J6Qo2PmHCcMayv379jmA\\\/0525-Anderson-train-chapel.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/28\\\/5607\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/28\\\/5607\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/28\\\/5607\\\/\",\"name\":\"Covenant Pastor Named Naval Chaplain of the Year - Covenant Newswire Archives\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/28\\\/5607\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/28\\\/5607\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.covchurch.org\\\/uploads\\\/R_\\\/J6\\\/R_J6Qo2PmHCcMayv379jmA\\\/0525-Anderson-train-chapel.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2007-05-28T19:10:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-13T15:19:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/28\\\/5607\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/28\\\/5607\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/28\\\/5607\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.covchurch.org\\\/uploads\\\/R_\\\/J6\\\/R_J6Qo2PmHCcMayv379jmA\\\/0525-Anderson-train-chapel.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.covchurch.org\\\/uploads\\\/R_\\\/J6\\\/R_J6Qo2PmHCcMayv379jmA\\\/0525-Anderson-train-chapel.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/28\\\/5607\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Covenant Pastor Named Naval Chaplain of the Year\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/\",\"name\":\"Covenant Newswire Archives\",\"description\":\"Evangelical Covenant Church\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/author\\\/covwebster\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Covenant Pastor Named Naval Chaplain of the Year - Covenant Newswire Archives","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/05\/28\/5607\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Covenant Pastor Named Naval Chaplain of the Year - Covenant Newswire Archives","og_description":"WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 28, 2007) \u2013 U.S. Navy Chaplain Lt. John Anderson has been chosen for the military branch\u2019s Distinguished Chaplain Award\u2014the equivalent of chaplain of the year.","og_url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/05\/28\/5607\/","og_site_name":"Covenant Newswire Archives","article_published_time":"2007-05-28T19:10:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2010-12-13T15:19:06+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/R_\/J6\/R_J6Qo2PmHCcMayv379jmA\/0525-Anderson-train-chapel.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/05\/28\/5607\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/05\/28\/5607\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#\/schema\/person\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8"},"headline":"Covenant Pastor Named Naval Chaplain of the Year","datePublished":"2007-05-28T19:10:51+00:00","dateModified":"2010-12-13T15:19:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/05\/28\/5607\/"},"wordCount":621,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/05\/28\/5607\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/R_\/J6\/R_J6Qo2PmHCcMayv379jmA\/0525-Anderson-train-chapel.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/05\/28\/5607\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/05\/28\/5607\/","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/05\/28\/5607\/","name":"Covenant Pastor Named Naval Chaplain of the Year - Covenant Newswire Archives","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/05\/28\/5607\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/05\/28\/5607\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/R_\/J6\/R_J6Qo2PmHCcMayv379jmA\/0525-Anderson-train-chapel.jpg","datePublished":"2007-05-28T19:10:51+00:00","dateModified":"2010-12-13T15:19:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#\/schema\/person\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/05\/28\/5607\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/05\/28\/5607\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/05\/28\/5607\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/R_\/J6\/R_J6Qo2PmHCcMayv379jmA\/0525-Anderson-train-chapel.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/R_\/J6\/R_J6Qo2PmHCcMayv379jmA\/0525-Anderson-train-chapel.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/05\/28\/5607\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Covenant Pastor Named Naval Chaplain of the Year"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#website","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/","name":"Covenant Newswire Archives","description":"Evangelical Covenant Church","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#\/schema\/person\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/author\/covwebster\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3549"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4282,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3549\/revisions\/4282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}