Stepping away from the pastorate is not always due to a personal failure as often reported today. Sometimes stepping away a local pastoral position is needed to take steps in a new ministerial direction, or as Scripture would teach for those “good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). This is one of those good works!

My wife and I will remain active members of the local church where I served on staff, but I will no longer take on the pastoral responsibilities as the Military Pastor. It was a hard decision to step away from the pastorate, but I am trusting what the Lord has opened and has prepared me for in this new work in His harvest!

So what is this new work?

Over the years I have been focused on speaking and teaching on combat traumatic stress and discipleship within the context of the local church. Even then the Lord opened doors for me to finish a Doctor of Educational Ministry, and a Master of Theology – Applied Theology from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary under the Veterans Affairs Chapter 31, Veteran Readiness and Employment program with no debt! I also took courses and continuing educational seminars to become a certified trauma professional to understand posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), moral injury, posttraumatic growth (PTG), and other various topics around trauma that clinicians are expected to know for counseling those who are struggling with PTSD. Couple the academic degrees and certifications with my experience as a pastor and years of service as a retired United States Army Special Forces soldier – Green Beret – with six combat rotations to Afghanistan and Iraq that struggles with a combination of symptoms associated with Operator Syndrome (Frueh, Operator Syndrome), I can speak with other combat veterans with similar struggles while encouraging hope and growth from a Christian worldview.

Thus the new work of starting a 501(c)3 to meet the growing requests to speak and teach in this area. My dissertation, titled Educating Local Church Representatives on Developing Integrated Trauma Care Ministries in the Clarksville-Montgomery County, Tennessee, Area to Care for Spouses of Soldiers Struggling with Combat Trauma, became the foundation for building sixteen lessons with expanded material and lessons to help local churches care for combat veterans and their family members. The lessons were taught in Ukraine with a growing interest in continuing teaching as the need for trauma-informed care ministries are growing. The lessons have been requested by others with invitations to speak and teach with veterans in the United States.

Stepping away to step into this new work is intimidating, but the Lord has placed others around us who desire to see the work continue as the requests come in. So after a couple of years of discussions, prayer, and sharing with family members about forming a non-profit, potentially publishing the lessons being taught, and increased travels here and abroad, we are stepping into this new work! And to use the words of William Carey to capture this transition, “expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.” And that we are! Stepping away from the comfort of a staff position to step into an unknown of non-profits and trusting the Lord in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead!