CHAPLAIN CANDIDATE PROGRAM
The military services offer opportunities for graduate students to examine certain professional branches as a potential career. Seminarians preparing for the ministry can enter the chaplain candidate program to explore the military chaplaincy. Chaplain Candidates are commissioned officers in the military Reserves. As a chaplain candidate, you can attend the chaplain officer basic training course at a branch service school, train up to 45 days annually on a military base under the supervision of a military chaplain, and receive certain other benefits. Details of the chaplain candidate program are available on the Internet, in printed brochures and from chaplain recruiters. In order to be accessioned by the military as a chaplain candidate, applicants must obtain ecclesiastical approval from a recognized religious faith body.
DEFINITION
Ecclesiastical approval is the denomination’s affirmation that a person has given evidence of being called to the ministry and is dedicated to preparing for that ministry. It grants denominational sanction for a seminarian to examine their interest in and calling to the military chaplaincy as an expression of ministry.
REQUIREMENTS
To obtain ecclesiastical approval from the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s endorsing body, the Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries Committee, an applicant must
1. Be a member in regular standing of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
2. Be a full-time student at a Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary that is fully accredited by ACM standards (Andrews University or La Sierra University).
3. Submit a complete application packet to the ACM Committee for consideration.
4. Meet all the requirements and standards of the military service desired.