CAMP LEJEUNE, NC (June 29, 2006) – U.S. Navy Chaplain Lt. John Anderson has been selected to be the next basic course instructor at the Naval Chaplains School in Newport, Rhode Island, the U.S. Navy announced Wednesday. <\/p>\n
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Anderson, who is ordained by the Evangelical Covenant Church, is returning to Iraq until early 2007. He will assume his course instructor position in February 2007. The top photo shows Anderson addressing troops stationed in Iraq during a memorial service.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a great honor for John, personally, and also a significant statement regarding the quality of ordained pastors that the Evangelical Covenant Church is endorsing for military service,\u201d says Capt. James R. Fisher, the Navy\u2019s director of chaplains for the Atlantic fleet, who also is a Covenant minister. He is a former deputy naval instructor for the chaplains school.<\/p>\n
The chief of Navy chaplains selects the instructors based on their \u201cpersonal integrity, depth of spiritual insight, a maturity level exceeding that of peers, and pastoral skills that have been exhibited in the most difficult of situations,\u201d Fisher says.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the individual is selected by the Chief of Chaplains, the Chaplain School staff determines the individual’s \u2018collegiality index\u2019 for compatibility with the staff\/team,\u201d Fisher notes. \u201cHis selection speaks well of who we are as a denomination and the level of our institution\u2019s commitment to pastoral development.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fisher says Anderson will personally impact between 400 to 500 incoming chaplains during his three-year assignment. That amounts to half of the Navy chaplain corps, he notes.<\/p>\n
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\u201cEspecially for a denomination our size, we have a good record of our own people being chosen for rather significant assignments,\u201d says Rear Admiral James Erickson, a Covenant chaplain with the Navy.<\/p>\n
Erickson says Covenant chaplains tend to do well because of the denomination\u2019s ethos. \u201cI think the one thing we have going for us is the Covenant\u2019s ability to minister quietly, but forcefully.\u201d<\/p>\n