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Chapel to host faith community fair Monday

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Maria Bowman
  • 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  The goal of the Comprehensive Airman Fitness program is to help Airmen, civilians and family members become more resilient and better equipped to deal with the rigors of military life. The four pillars of the CAF program are: mental, physical, social and spiritual.

The 375th Air Mobility Wing chapel will be supporting the spiritual pillar when they host the Faith Community Fair July 29 from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Chapel 1, where Scott Air Force Base members and their families will have the opportunity to meet with the faith community, from on and off base, and learn how they can meet their spiritual needs.

"We want to build a strong relationship with faith leaders in our community because we realize that they are key partners in taking care of our military members and their families," said Lt. Col. Christine Blice-Baum, 375th AMW chaplain. "Every now and then, a faith group off base will ask if they can have a display or if they can hand things out to our Airmen. Because of our protection of religious freedom, we can't give preference to one group over another. This fair is their opportunity to hand things out about their programs."

Each faith group who participates in the fair will be given their own display space in the chapel where they can showcase their organization. Attendees will be able to walk through the various displays and get information from tables and meet with the leaders of the spiritual organizations.

Faith groups from the chapel will also be at the fair, highlighting the things they have to offer Team Scott.

Capt. Ronald Kiser, 375th AMW protestant chaplain, said, "We help connect and equip the local religious leaders with tips and tools to help them be mindful when they are taking care of the military members and their families. If there's something beyond what they are able to do, they will know what resources are available to their member on base."

Blice-Baum said everyone on base is invited and that the fair will be especially useful for people who are new to the base.

"We want newcomers to come out so they can see what the different faith groups are," she said. "Newcomers are wondering where they should go for a worship service, and this gives them an idea."

Staff Sgt. Thomas Bennett, 375th AMW Chapel Administrations NCOIC, said he is currently trying to find a spiritual community to belong to and hopes to find a place where he and his family will fit in.

"At my last base, the chapel didn't have anything like this, and I was lost when it came to finding religious organizations and support groups," he said. "I went to the chapel on base a few times, but it didn't fit my family. With this fair, I'm going to go around and talk to people. My personal hope is that I can find a church that I would actually fit in and will fulfill that religious need."

Off-base churches and religious organizations, including Orthodox Christian, nondenominational and Jewish communities have been invited to participate.
Kiser said he encourages people to invite their own spiritual leaders to attend.

"If we have members of our community who are already plugged into a faith community off base and would like to have their faith group come and be a part of this event, they should feel free to offer this invitation to them and have them get in contact with us," he said.

For more information on this event, or to make a reservation, call 256-3303 and ask to speak with Kiser or Bennett.