Help me send the best qualified, Jesus-centered chaplains to serve our men and women in the US Armed Forces.

My name is Ed Willis and I am a retired US Army Chaplain with 21 years of service, including two combat deployments to Iraq. I currently serve as the Endorser (The denominational representative to the Department of War) for the North American Baptist Conference (NABC) and senior pastor of West Hills Community Church (WHCC) in Salem, Oregon. I have a vision to start an internship program for chaplain candidates committed to serving in the active-duty US Armed Forces. The program is designed to send forth the best trained and best qualified applicants to compete for chaplain openings in the US Army, Air Force, and Navy. 

Background: The US Department of War requires that ministers applying for active-duty service as chaplains complete two years of full-time practical ministerial experience (PME) after graduating from seminary. At a minimum, candidates must receive an ordination from their prospective denomination and have demonstrated competency performing the religious services, rituals, and ordinances expected of them by their endorsing agency. Ideally, candidates should have held positions requiring responsibilities in the areas of leadership, budgeting, and the planning, coordination, and execution of services, events, and activities. Candidates should also have had exposure to institutional ministries (e.g., hospital, jail/prison, police, first responders, traumatic event response), and know how to coordinate assistance for individuals with third party helping agencies in the community. Continued education and experience in counseling is critical to the effectiveness of military chaplains. Therefore, each candidate should complete one unit of Clinical Pastoral Education during their internship and get as much education, training, and mentoring as possible in the fields of premarital/marital counseling, divorce recovery, suicide awareness, prevention and intervention, and traumatic event recovery to minimize the risk of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Finally, candidates must maintain excellent physical fitness standards. In addition, chaplain candidates serve as reservists or national guardsmen to fulfill their military training requirements.   

Problem: The past four decades have seen the dramatic loss of quality opportunities for candidates to fulfill this important eligibility requirement for active-duty service. In the past, small churches needing interim pastors were abundant and denominations often assigned these entry-level opportunities to their chaplain candidates. But with the high rate of closure of small churches in America, these opportunities have become rare.

At the same time, large churches have become increasingly reluctant to hire chaplain candidates for staff openings due to the expected short tenure of candidates looking to complete their PME. Furthermore, chaplain candidates are required to fulfill a minimum of 45 days per year for military training—and churches feel reluctant to hire a pastor or staff member requiring so much time off.

Given the demands of their military training and relatively short tenures, chaplain candidates have a difficult time getting hired for positions that offer enough stature and pay to fulfill their PME.

The Solution: I am asking you to help fund an internship program for chaplain candidates preparing for active-duty service that well-prepares them for their careers while providing them the financial remuneration necessary to sustain their households. A chaplain candidate internship program at West Hills Community Church will allow me to supervise, coach, and mentor chaplain candidates as they fulfill their PME requirements. It is important to provide candidates with housing and a gracious salary during their internship that will allow them to give their undivided attention to their spiritual formation, professional development, and ministerial efforts without worrying about how to provide for their families. Chaplain candidates who complete this internship will be top among the most likely applicants to be accepted for active-duty service and far more effective during their first three years of service than they would be without this important training.

As the current NABC endorsing agent and a retired US Army Chaplain who began his career as a chaplain candidate, I have extensive experience supervising chaplain candidates. Therefore, believe that I can establish an internship program that will allow the NABC to put forth the best qualified, Gospel-focused, Jesus-centered applicants for active-duty service. I am looking for sufficient funding to provide housing, salaries, and benefits for two chaplain candidate interns for 30 months.

Housing: An opportunity exists to purchase a duplex for approximately $500,000 within a mile from WHCC that would allow us to provide housing for two interns. The shared living quarters for two families will mimic the close living arrangements enjoyed by families who reside on military installations, especially overseas.

Remuneration for Interns: The interns will be paid a salary of $50,000 per year in addition being provided housing. Their health insurance premium (the 2025 cost for a Tricare Family plan is approximately $280 per month) will be reimbursed by WHCC. With the employer tax burden and benefits, the total cost per intern per year will be approximately $65,000 per year. A 2.5-year tenure will allow the candidate enough time to complete their two years of PME and then transition into the active-duty chaplaincy.

Fundraising: WHCC needs $1 million to establish this ministry. About half of the funds will be used by the church to purchase a duplex which will serve as a parsonage for the two candidates. The other half will be used toward the candidates’ salaries, the training expenses, and other miscellaneous expenses required by the program for its first 2.5 years.

 Any amount given by anybody will be greatly appreciated.

Note: Your gift will be transferred from GiveSendGo directly to West Hills Community Church. Our church treasurer is Kathy Johnson. 

I would like to personally appeal to 1,000 veterans to give $1,000 as an investment into getting the Gospel to our men and women in uniform and their families. To lead from the front, I have given the first $1,000.

If you have been on the battlefield, you know firsthand how effective good chaplains can be. Help me send the best.

Above all, please pray for all of our chaplains currently serving and that God will protect and bless all of our Uniformed Service Members and their families.