For chaplain, faith is not exclusive

With deep-blue stained-glass windows and a dramatic sloping roof, the building near the gates of the Fairchild Air Force base almost looks like a church plucked out of a children’s Sunday school book.

Except it doesn’t have a steeple, or a cross, or any other religious symbol.

“This looks like a church, but we are not a church,” said Lt. Col. Jeffery L. Neuberger, the base’s wing chaplain. It’s a point he emphasizes often. The base chapel’s exterior has no specific symbols because its mission is to encompass all religions.

“We have a lot of diversity – culturally, radically and denominationally – and that’s what I like about being a base chaplain,” he said. “My kids grew up in the chapel Sunday school. They’re not sure what denomination they are.”

The Fairchild Base Chapel acts as a multiuse facility, serving hundreds of patrons seeking to fulfill their spiritual needs.

As head chaplain, Neuberger must be sensitive to all faiths. His office, for instance, is filled with framed posters depicting Islam, Judaism and other religions of the world.

Neuberger also oversees religious accommodation issues that affect an airman’s life beyond a physical place to worship, including understanding orthodox traditions, such as the accommodation of kosher foods, or the wearing of religious jewelry or apparel. He makes sure that the chapel does not purchase any literature that denounces other religions.

“That’s what it means to be a chaplain and to be sensitive to others,” said Neuberger, who also keeps an encyclopedia of denominations in his office for reference.

Every Sunday, the chapel holds three services – an Evangelical Protestant service, which combines contemporary praise music with traditional hymns, a Catholic Mass and a Protestant Gospel service.

Almost half of the base’s population is Protestant, according to Neuberger. On a recent Sunday, about 100 of them attended the first service, reading from the Bible and singing from the hymn books tucked behind the pews.

For Mass an hour and a half later, the chapel’s staff drew back the red curtains in front of the room to reveal icons of Joseph, Mary and Jesus on the Cross. “I’ve been through a lot of challenges and hardships,” said Angela Delos Reyes, who attended Mass along with her husband, Senior Airman Gerald Delos Reyes, and their sons, 5-year-old Austin and 5-month-old Gavin. “This place makes me comfortable with practicing my faith.”

The chapel is where they had Gavin baptized and where they send Austin to Sunday school. The couple, who grew up in the Philippines, said chapel also provided free blessings for her husband’s car and their house.

Roman Catholics account for 26 percent of the population at Fairchild, according to Neuberger. While nearly half have indicated they’re Protestant, about 18 percent say they have no religious preference. Nine percent identify with other faiths.

Bigger bases offer more variety in services, but Fairchild’s size limits the options. Airmen who find their religion is not represented go to other institutions off the base for worship.

Lt. Col. John Foden, who has been in the Air Force for more than 21 years, said his family has become very involved with the chapel since they moved here last year. His wife, Dia, is in charge of the bell choir, and his daughter and son go to Sunday school.

“What’s neat about the chapel is that the denominations kind of go away,” Dia Foden said after the contemporary service. “They come from different backgrounds, but they serve the community.

The program handed out during service is the only way to identify which denominations the chaplains represent, she adds.

“They don’t point it out. It’s not a part of the message,” she said.

Chaplain Capt. Andrew Pak said the military community makes it easier for chaplains maintain their individual religious identity while also trying to be flexible.

“We joined the Air Force on our own denomination. We have our own belief,” said Pak, a Seventh-Day Adventist.

Chapel members “respect all the chaplains no matter where they come from,” he said.

In addition to Neuberger and Pak, the Fairchild chaplains consist of a United Methodist and a Catholic priest.

“We work well together,” Neuberger said. “I’ve been a chaplain 22 years, I’ve never seen any real conflict because of (a chaplain’s) faith. The reason we come into the chaplaincy is because of the diversity, the pluralism.”

The diversity in chapels has helped to shape Neuberger’s own spirituality.

Two years ago, Neuberger – who came into service as a Baptist and grew up a Lutheran – converted to the Episcopal Church after leading the Episcopalian service at another base.

Denominations don’t matter to the Fodens, who said the chaplains’ dedication to the community is what’s really important, especially when it comes to deployment.

The chapel provides a support network for military families, said Dia Foden.

“Not only do they work closely with the military, they know what we’re going through.”