{"id":63352,"date":"2020-11-27T16:30:32","date_gmt":"2020-11-27T16:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/11\/27\/national-guard-chaplains-reflect-on-floyd-protests-lessons-learned\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:49:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:49:03","slug":"national-guard-chaplains-reflect-on-floyd-protests-lessons-learned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2020\/11\/27\/national-guard-chaplains-reflect-on-floyd-protests-lessons-learned\/","title":{"rendered":"National Guard chaplains reflect on Floyd protests, lessons learned"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) \u2014 Reflecting on a polarized nation in the throes of a bitterly fought election<\/a>, Stephanie Christoffels started the communal prayer at a fall training of her fellow Minnesota National Guard chaplains by reminding them of Christianity\u2019s two greatest commandments: to love God and neighbor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to love our neighbors \u2026 to go on Facebook and see what they\u2019re posting,\u201d the Lutheran pastor and only female chaplain in the Minnesota Guard told the faith leaders in military fatigues, each with the cross insignia of a Christian chaplain and many with badges for service in combat zones. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to love people that hate us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National Guard troops were deployed during this summer\u2019s widespread unrest over racial injustice following George Floyd\u2019s death in police custody in Minneapolis, and again this fall in the city as a surge in violent crime collided with heated debate over law enforcement and race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the chaplains say they\u2019re working on two main lessons learned from those tumultuous times<\/a>: Building bridges within tense communities and bringing faith-grounded calm and comfort to the front lines whenever they may be mobilized again \u2014 possibly as soon as next March, when the officers charged in Floyd\u2019s killing go on trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe work isn\u2019t done,\u201d said Buddy Winn, the state chaplain and a Pentecostal pastor in the Twin Cities. \u201cIt\u2019s about relationships \u2026 to establish some trust, to de-escalate threats. To people of faith I say, \u2018pray hard.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Minnesota National Guard chaplain Charles Kim, a pastor at Korean Presbyterian Church, holds his Bible during a time of devotion for fellow chaplains Oct. 19, 2020 in St. Paul, Minn. The role of faith leaders who serve as National Guard chaplains has grown more crucial, and more challenging, as thousands of soldiers and airmen, most of them in their 20s, have been increasingly deployed not only in long-lasting overseas wars but in civil unrest across a deeply polarized United States. (AP Photo\/Jim Mone)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The role of Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu faith leaders who serve as National Guard chaplains nationwide has grown more crucial, and more challenging, as thousands of soldiers and airmen, most of them in their 20s, find themselves mobilized not only for natural disasters and overseas conflicts but also domestic unrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the protests erupted in Twin Cities neighborhoods following Floyd\u2019s death, Minnesota\u2019s governor authorized the state National Guard to fully activate for its largest domestic deployment in history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sam Houston, a Baptist pastor and the Minnesota National Guard\u2019s only Black chaplain, said he saw protesters taunting some African American guard members \u2014 and heard soldiers agonize about wishing they could stand with demonstrators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re providing the opportunity for people to protest peacefully for you,\u201d Houston advised them, adding that their role in serving was to ensure a safe environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s only the people who were trying to break the law,\u201d he said, \u201cthat needed to be concerned about the guard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t