ORANGE, CA (July 10, 2006) – Frank Riley\u2019s swearing in as a U.S. Naval Reserve chaplain a week ago was a celebrative event for the River47 Evangelical Covenant Church. <\/p>\n
A highlight of the ceremony came when his wife, Jennifer, and his father-in-law, Jack Davis, who is a veteran of World War II and Korea, placed the chaplain\u2019s decoration on Riley\u2019s uniform. The entire congregation cheered when Navy Lt. Cmdr. Dan Massey declared, \u201cWelcome aboard.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cheering actually began months ago when Riley informed the church body that he had applied for the chaplaincy. \u201cThe entire congregation applauded,\u201d Riley says. \u201cThere\u2019s been nothing but support from day one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reserve chaplaincy is just another extension of the ministry of local pastors, Riley believes. He notes that other pastors minister in different ways outside their congregation.<\/p>\n
Riley has been a pastor for 25 years, but began thinking about becoming a military chaplain a year ago while attending the graduation ceremony of two church members from Camp Pendleton. \u201cI found out a few years ago that there was a severe shortage of chaplains, especially in the reserves,\u201d Riley says. \u201cSo this was about coming alongside our service people.\u201d<\/p>\n
The congregation of nearly 300 already has five members serving in the U.S. Marines. Two are in Iraq, another is a new father who is leaving soon for Iraq, one is at Guantanamo Bay, and another is finishing boot camp.<\/p>\n
The new chaplain says he was further inspired by talking with other Covenant chaplains and reading stories about them in The Covenant Companion<\/em> and in the online news report on the Covenant\u2019s web page.<\/p>\n Riley, a father of two, almost wasn\u2019t able to join – he was considered too old. The cutoff was age 40, but after initially denying the request, the Navy granted a waiver.<\/p>\n Riley begins his first weekend of work this Saturday. He still has to undergo his officer\u2019s basic training and additional training for chaplains, which probably will begin in the fall, he says.<\/p>\n