New chaplain corps has big plans for community

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Chuck Broadway
  • 9th RW Public Affairs
BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., (ACCNS) --  A former Army Green Beret, a Harvard graduate, an Arabic linguist, and the self-proclaimed "best basketball player" in his career field ... It's a pretty diverse group to say the least. They may come from different backgrounds but are now under one roof to serve as Beale's newly assigned chaplains. Their variety of past adventures and experience has combined to facilitate a new ministry and more opportunities for the Beale community to speak with chaplains and strengthen their spiritual relationships. 

A big focus of their new ministry is becoming more visible to the base population. When most people are looking for spiritual help, they look up. That's the best place to look for the new wing chaplain. 

At 6-foot-7, Chaplain (Maj.) George Youstra, 9th Reconnaissance Wing chaplain and former Army Green Beret, has bragging rights of the tallest chaplain in the Air Force. His towering frame and ever-present grin might have made it harder for him to camouflage himself during his Army days, but it makes him easy to find if anyone's looking for a chaplain. 

"Our workplace is your workplace," Chaplain Youstra said. "We want to come to the people instead of the people coming to the chapel." 

To accomplish this goal, the chaplains will be assigned to each of the groups on base. This will allow chaplains to become more interactive with Airmen and both parties can learn more about each other. 

"Once a person knows you they feel they can talk to you," Chaplain Youstra said. 

This open communication is geared towards building relationships, another major goal of the chaplains. 

"Ministry flows through relationships and relationships are everything," said Chaplain (Maj.) Christian Biscotti, 9th RW senior protestant chaplain and frequent visitor to the Harris Fitness Center basketball court. "We want to build a strong community and building relationships is the heart of it all," he said. 

To build that strong community, several events and retreats are in the works for Airmen and their families. 

"The dorm dinners are some of the best things for our Airmen," Chaplain Biscotti said. "We're also going to do a big fall home-group within the surrounding areas." 

The home-group is a ministry in the works where chapel community members open their homes and minister to Beale members. Whether it's through dinners, bible study, children's groups or other tactics, the goal is to create a community environment with a message. 

"We're going to rebuild a vibrant chapel community," Chaplain Youstra said. "Because of all the stresses, we feel a rebuilding is necessary." 

Not only are they looking to rebuild community relationships, but also rebuild the chapel itself. A planned renovation is in the works to completely overhaul the interior of the chapel. Included in the plans are new pews, a new sound system and complete physical makeover of the interior. 

The contemporary service is also in a transition period. A new starting time has already been put in place, moving the service from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Musicians are also being hired to come and perform before the congregation to add a more "fun" style of outreach to the community. 

"We have to provide a product worthy of Beale members to show up," Chaplain Youstra said. "If we have a good product, people will come." 

According to the chaplains, the contemporary service has already seen an increase in congregation size since moving the start time. 

When attending the Protestant service, congregation members are likely to see a multitude of chaplains leading the service. Chaplain (Capt.) Hank Hahm, a Harvard graduate, is said to have more than 800 friends on his Facebook account, according to Chaplain Biscotti. 

Chaplain (Capt.) Dwayne McCrory, another Protestant chaplain and Arabic linguist, is a familiar face to most of Beale is considered by his co-workers to be the smartest chaplain in the group. 

Regardless of who's giving the message, all of the chaplains said they are here for the same reasons ... Because they care and want to help the troops any way they can. They are visible, hard to miss and available to help in any situation. 

"You know your chaplains and rest assured we'll be there when you need us," Chaplain Youstra said.