When Soldiers Come Home

A soldier’s safe return is a joyous occasion for both soldier and family, but many former soldiers continue to fight emotional and spiritual battles long after they don civilian clothes. As a result, pastors and churches will want to consider how best to minister to returning soldiers and their families. Major John Morris, a chaplain with the Minnesota Army National Guard, offers tips for churches ministering to military families when their loved one returns:

1. Listen, support, absolve, and don’t condemn. Soldiers need a place where they can share the experiences of war that may trouble them. They need a safe place where they can do theological inquiry, to question and grow in their understanding of God, which is so necessary for anyone who has suffered trauma. They need a place where they can gain the strength needed to grow through their combat experience and on into the person God is calling them to be. A church that will provide a listening ear, a place for confession, and a heart of compassion will become a healing haven for soldiers and their families.

2. Be alert for signs of distress. Because a soldier and his family show up for Sunday worship regularly doesn’t mean everything is going well with their reintegration. Check in with them periodically and watch for signs of distress. Depression, hyper-vigilance, withdrawal, inability to hold a job, anger issues, and discomfort with being in crowds are common signs of stress in combat veterans.

3. Support beyond the yellow ribbon. If the church thinks of the service member and family as people who have just survived a fire, it will guide efforts to help for the long haul. This may take many practical forms from bringing over a favorite meal once a week for several months after the soldier returns, to offering day care so the couple can rebuild their marriage, to paying for the couple to attend a marriage retreat, to providing counseling if the family needs help.

—Condensed from Christianity Today magazine