How Can a Minister of God Work in a Warzone?

The apparent paradox of military chaplaincy.

Wearing medals on a preaching scarf may seem like a contradiction in terms. Photo by William Lister

Many of my contemporaries at theological college were dismayed when I joined the British Army as an ordained minister and became a chaplain. Many people since then have also challenged me to explain the irony of someone representing a God of peace on military operations. There is always the implicit criticism that rather than proclaiming peace, the chaplain is simply oiling the wheels of a military machine.

But to me, this is armchair theology. It’s very different when you are the person who is actually grappling with the realities of life and death. Strangely enough, such notions never really entered my head when supporting those who had just lost colleagues in an IED explosion, consoling a young family on the death of their child, or when giving someone the last rites. It was enough to get through the day and to enable others to do the same.

“My most profound experiences of God have been on battlefields.”

My own motives for signing up had little to do with wanting to serve in Iraq, Northern Ireland, Afghanistan or other theatres of war, although that is what I ended up doing, (unarmed as a British Army chaplain). They were more about my desire and calling to work with young…