{"id":6755,"date":"2006-11-10T21:55:34","date_gmt":"2006-11-11T02:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=6755"},"modified":"2011-07-06T08:36:06","modified_gmt":"2011-07-06T13:36:06","slug":"5256","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/11\/10\/5256\/","title":{"rendered":"A Checklist for Working with Returning Veterans"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>CHICAGO, IL (November 10, 2006) \u2013 Church members and pastors may feel at a loss about how to best welcome veterans from war zones as well as minister to those still serving.<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\nWhat should a person say . . . or not say? What services can they provide? What kinds of things would be most helpful?<\/p>\n<p>Evangelical Covenant Church chaplains point to the example of Jesus\u2019 ministry to soldiers as a model for churches. He was interested only in offering them grace and meeting their needs as well as the needs of their families.<\/p>\n<p>The question of how best to respond in such circumstances will be the topic of a one-day workshop \u2013 Trauma Ministry to Returning Veterans &#8212; during the 2007 Midwinter Pastors Conference in Denver. To learn more about that event, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/midwinter\" target=\"_blank\">Midwinter Conference<\/a>.<\/div>\n<div>Chaplains ordained through the Covenant suggest a number of important ways that churches can help troops reintegrate upon their return home:<br \/>\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Listen, listen, and then listen some more. Don\u2019t push questions.<br \/>\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Regardless of individual church members\u2019 views on the war, support the troops through public acknowledgement of their service.<br \/>\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Reach out to military families, which must be separated for long periods of time. Be present through service and simply listening. Call the family, offer to take care of children so the parent can have a night out, and help with other responsibilities. Ministers to youth and children should recognize that children often struggle with the separation from the parent as well as the fear of what might happen in the war zone. Church members can spend time with the children in fun activities and listening to their concerns.<br \/>\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Send care packages and letters to service members.<br \/>\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Welcome returning service members publicly during a service and through the church bulletin or newsletter.<br \/>\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Understand that the family probably will undergo stress. Provide occasional meals, pay for them to attend a marriage retreat, or help pay for counseling.<br \/>\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Provide a safe place where troops can share their experience without being judged.<\/p>\n<p>Additional information also is available from these recommended websites:<br \/>\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Guides to help troops, families: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncptsd.va.gov\" target=\"_blank\">The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD<\/a><br \/>\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dealing with trauma: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.patiencepress.com\" target=\"_blank\">Patience Press<\/a> has articles that deal with different forms of trauma<br \/>\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One chaplain\u2019s advice: Visit <a href=\"http:\/\/speakingoffaith.publicradio.org\/programs\/soulofwar\/index.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">National Guard Chaplain John Morris<\/a> (not a Covenant minister) for a podcast and transcript of an interview about a program he has developed to help returning veterans<\/p>\n<p>Recommended books include <em>Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming<\/em>, as well as <em>Down Range: To Iraq and Back.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>Copyright \u00a9 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-report-this\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire?moderation_action=report_form&#038;object_type=post&#038;object_id=6755&#038;width=250&#038;height=300\" class=\"thickbox\" title=\"Report This Post\">Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CHICAGO, IL (November 10, 2006) \u2013 Church members and pastors may feel at a loss about how to best welcome veterans from war zones as well as minister to those still serving. Report This Post<\/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-6755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Checklist for Working with Returning Veterans - 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\/2006\/11\/10\/5256\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Checklist for Working with Returning Veterans - Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CHICAGO, IL (November 10, 2006) \u2013 Church members and pastors may feel at a loss about how to best welcome veterans from war zones as well as minister to those still serving. 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