Ministry to hospitals, universities and armed services a growing field, Councell says
On the surface not much has changed for Colonel Gary Councell since he became director of Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries on May 1.
The retired Army chaplain still gets up at 4 a.m. to get to the office between 5:15 a.m. and 6 a.m. His department still endorses Adventists serving as chaplains in hospitals, on public university campuses and in the armed services. He still works on getting Sabbath accommodations for Adventists in the armed services and he still has the same office that he had when he became associate director for the department two years ago.
After spending more than 30 years in active duty, Councell started work at the Seventh-day Adventist world church’s headquarters in 2005, literally the next day after retiring from the United States Army.
Life turned out differently than planned for the kid from Ohio who was once set on becoming a U.S. Park Ranger. With aunts and uncles who served in the Second World War and the Korean War it was almost inevitable that Councell would end up in the Army. Only he had a different purpose.
Councell, 64, says he became a chaplain to provide the kind of support to soldiers his own father didn’t have when he was drafted during World War II, two weeks after becoming an Adventist.
“Back then there were no Adventist chaplains to help our members who served. My own father had all kinds of problems, from Sabbath-keeping to diet to not wanting to carry weapons, and he had no one to assist him standing for his convictions,” he says.
Now Councell oversees a department that endorses 350 Adventist chaplains in the U.S. and consults with ACM departments in many countries on keeping current the endorsements of the some 300 Adventist chaplains globally.
So instead of kicking back and enjoying mountaineering, bicycling, camping, reading, playing the trumpet and visiting Civil War Memorial battlefields, Councell says “a love for our people—our church members” brings him into the office each day.
He also adds that he is motivated by “a sense of vision about the direction I want to take the department.”
He says plans include recruiting more prison chaplains, appointing a full time coordinator for public campuses, establishing fully independent chaplaincy training programs in more regions of the world church and helping more seminary graduates realize that “chaplaincy is a viable expression of ministry just as vital as the pastor/evangelist.”
Councell is especially passionate about the last point.
“With more seminary graduates than churches to minister in we have a lot of graduates who are not getting employed by the denomination,” he says. “They need to understand that chaplains are called to ministry just as pastors are.”
The message must be getting across because Councell says he gets more calls from ministers wanting to be chaplains than about any other issue.
Before coming to the Adventist church’s world headquarters, the grandfather of five worked at the Pentagon as director of information, resource management, facilities and logistics in the office of the Chief of Chaplains. He previously served as the senior chaplain for all the military chaplains around the Pacific Rim.
Councell was also the second Adventist to earn the rank of colonel, an accomplishment that only eight out of 100 army chaplains ever make.
Still, he says it would be nice if more churches gave the chaplaincy a little more respect.
“We tend to look at end results only: numbers of people baptized. But chaplains plant seeds and then nurture them. We are building credibility for the church and making contacts with people who have never heard about Adventists,” he says.
Outside of the office, Councell continues to minister whenever he can by volunteering as an interim pastor to local churches and as a substitute preacher to other churches on some Sabbaths—a carryover from his chaplain career.
He says even though he works for the church he sees this as his form of personal ministry.
With this kind of commitment to the church it makes sense that recently retired ACM director Chaplain Martin Feldbush says, “I purposely recommended Gary. We come from different backgrounds but we share philosophical goals for the department. I trust his judgment.”
And William Broome, an Adventist Chaplain at the Pentagon who has known Councell for 25 years, did not hesitate when asked if Councell was the right man for the job.
“Gary understand how chaplains work and as a faithful man of God he understand what chaplains need,” Broome says.