Consultation Schedule
Friday, April 8
1 – 3:30 Arrivals and check in. Holiday Inn Brookline
1:00 – 3:30 Registration Table, and an optional gathering and networking opportunity for those who may be arriving early, and open to BU student’s at-large. Brown-bag Chaplain’s Lunch Chat Speaker Series sponsored by the BU student group, Chaplains Service Network. Please feel free to bring information to share with other attendees and BU students. (BU School of Theology, 745 Comm Ave. Rms B23/24) You can purchase lunch at nearby locations. Beverages will be served.
We will have a guest speakers:
Ch, Lt Col Daniel Njoroge Karanja (BUSTH MDiv., Class of 1994)— He will be available to discuss the entire process from start to finish on how one can prepare in seminary and beyond in order to be best qualified and competitive for the U.S. Air Force Chaplain Corps. He is an active duty chaplain who served in the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps for 6 years upon graduation from BUSTH. He resigned his commission in the Army to receive another commission as a U.S. Air Force Chaplain, a ministry he has continued with to the present day. Chaplain Karanja and his wife Joyce are parents of three college age children who have been raised in the military and can address all questions about family life in the military. He has deployed to combat zones, served in Iceland, England, Japan, Djibouti among other locations. He has also served at various levels of leadership within the Chaplain Corps. He is currently the Chief of Air Force Chaplain Accessions at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio,
Giovanna Meek—She is a veteran, wife of a veteran, and mother of two adult children in the service. She has broad experience caring for and working with military, veterans, and their families – in warzones, in the VA hospital, in the Church, and as co-founder and director of a 501(c)3 that engages families of service members killed in combat operations. Giovanna is currently a 2nd year MDiv student at Duke Divinity School. Giovanna will be happy to speak with students about any of her experiences that are of interest. Additionally, she’s familiar with the particular needs of military/veterans/families, not only being a member of each of those groups herself, but also as caretaker. She’s interested in having an open conversation about theological education of those who will be caring for these members of society. Of particular interest to attendees, her military experience and consulting work, ranging from counterterrorism to reconciliation efforts, has required her to live both inside and outside the wire in warzones around the world, in multi–cultural and –religious environments. Giovanna is particularly supportive of efforts to help theological education better prepare those who will be caring for military/veterans/families.
We will also screen the documentary “Chaplains” (http://journeyfilms.com/chaplains/) for those that are interested.
3:00 – 3:30 Registration Table Gathering, Snacks, and Mingling (BU Questrom Building; 595 Comm. Av; 426/8)
3:30 – 4:30 Session 1: Sharing the Vision: Professors Carrie Doehring, Professor Shelly Rambo, Paul W. Dodd Chaplain (Colonel), U.S. Army (Ret), and Thomas T. Carpenter, Esq., U.S. Marine Corps, (CAPT USMC 1970-1982) in BU Questrom Building; 595 Comm. Av; Rm 322
4:30 – 5:30 Session 2: Engaging Diverse Cultures: Military, Church, Theological School: Professor Kristen Leslie, and Professor Ed Waggoner in BU Questrom Building; 595 Comm. Av; Rm 322
5:30 – 7:00 Dinner and Introductions in BU Questrom Building; 595 Comm. Av; Rms 426/8
7:00 – 8:30 Session 3: Military Chaplaincy, the Constitution, and Religious Conscience: Professor Eugene Fidell in BU CAS Building Rm 211; 725 Comm. Ave. This lecture is open to the public.
The speaker will be Eugene Fidell, Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale University Law School. He is co-founder and former president of the National Institute of Military Justice and of counsel at Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP, Washington, D.C. This event is open to the public.
Saturday, April 9
8:00 – 9:00 Morning mingling with a light continental breakfast will be served before the start of the first session at Photonics Center (8 St. Mary’s St). For a more hearty breakfast please refer to the resource link in your welcome letter.
All events for Saturday morning will be held at the Photonics Center (8 St. Mary’s St). The afternoon working groups will be held both at the Elie Wiesel Center and the Photonics Center.
9:00 – 9:45 The Nature of the 21st Century Military Chaplain: Chaplain (Brig. Gen.) Richard M. Erikson
9:45-10:30 How are theological Schools positioned to do this work? — Small Group Discussion
10:30 – 10:45 Break
10:45 – 12:00 Seminary Training and Curricular Proposals: Professor Carrie Doehring and Zachary Moon
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch will be served at the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies, Boston University
147 Bay State Road.
1:00 – 2:00 Working Groups—Topics include: Curriculum, Recruiting, Networking, Rationale
2:00 – 2:45 Reporting findings and recommendations
2:45 – 3:00 Break and refreshments at the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies, Boston University
147 Bay State Road.
3:00 – 4:00 Review and next steps
4:00 Adjourn
