Our Navy Chaplain, 1967
A story of invitation to worship
by Ray Stasko
We never saw much of the chaplain on our ship, except when he read the morning prayer over the PA system. When in port he would read the prayer, then snap his book shut, salute the Officer of the Deck, and depart the ship as fast as he could.
A sailor timed him; from the time the chaplain said amen ’till he was off the ship took 9 seconds! The sailor looked at me and said: “See how much he loves us!”
Fortunately we got a new chaplain before we went to the Mediterranean. He was a caring, congenial guy who tried to make himself known to the crew. I felt sorry for the chaplain because, of the 1200 sailors aboard, only 8 men attended his services. I asked the chaplain if I was allowed to invite other sailors to come to church. He said: “By all means! I had the Captain draft a letter stating that no one should be prevented from going to church, and tacked it to the bulletin board.”
The following Sunday I tried convincing the men in my division to go to church. I put it to them this way: “Look, you can stay on deck and work hard, or you can go church and just sit.”
That reasoning worked; in a short time I had collected twenty sailors.
As the gang headed toward the wardroom, we were confronted by the lead petty officer who said: “Hey, where do you guys think you’re going?!” I replied: “We’re going to church.” He said: “Oh no! Get back to work!” I then explained the letter from the Captain to him. The petty officer reluctantly said: “Ok, but I better catch you guys in church every Sunday, or, I’m going to work you lazy loafers to DEATH!” [Needless to say, we were in church every Sunday.]
When we got to the wardroom, the church service had already begun and a young sailor was singing “The Old Rugged Cross.” I paused in the doorway so as not to interrupt, but the chaplain waved for me to come in. He looked surprised and delighted as twenty of my shipmates filed in behind me. After the men were handed a hymnal and seated, the chaplain yelled: “Everybody sing!”
We finished the hymn as the chaplain sat with his eyes closed, enthralled by the sound of his newly expanded congregation.
When my tour of duty was nearing it’s end, I was told to report to the Captain of the ship. I thought: “Oh no, what did I do now that I have to see the Captain himself?”
I entered the stateroom; the Captain was seated with the chaplain standing by his side. The chaplain had a big smile on his face, so I knew things couldn’t be too bad. The chaplain had asked the Captain to give me a Letter of Commendation for my [acts of outreach.]
