June 2013 Council Agenda - International Pentecostal Holiness ...

From: Jerry Jones
Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2013 8:10 PM
To: Harold Dalton
Cc: Chris Thompson
Subject: Reference Discussion of IPHC Missionary working with Church of God Servicemen's Center in
Germany
Good Day Harold,
As requested, here is the gist of what I shared with you concerning one of our missionaries working with
the Church of God Servicemen’s Center:
First and above all, there is no conflict with this arrangement, and never has been a conflict with any
servicemen’s centers and the US Military. Also it should be kept in mind, that there is no official
connection between servicemen’s centers and the military or chaplains.
Servicemen’s centers across Europe and the United States have actually been another resource for
those military members and their families to have a place to go for worship or other alternate Christian
fellowship they could not find on a military installation. Normally, the civilian ministers who run these
centers and the chaplains on an installation have a congenial and professional relationship as they see
themselves in a co-effort to military members and families for religious support.
The arrangement you shared with me between our missionary and the Church of God is a great
thing. This opportunity for our missionary to get hands on experience in a foreign country is
priceless. Learning a new culture, life style, and language before starting a IPHC ministry there is an
advantage in many ways. Probably one of the best advantages is doing a market study to determine if
there is a need of a IPHC ministry there and how our distinctive faith group can contribute to the
Kingdom and those people there. If there is, it will be a great time to learn all the administrative
procedures, laws, etc. that have to be known and abided by.
A word of caution if the intent is to start an IPHC ministry directed to military personnel. Someone
needs to find out which communities in Germany are considered ‘enduring’ communities. Enduring
communities are those which are likely to remain for many years. As I recall, three of those would be
Ramstein, Wiesbaden, and Stuttgart. Many others will close in the near future. In any case, our
missionary there would want to be prepared to minister to local nationals as well.
I trust this answers some of the concerns the World Missions department concerning this.
Sincerely,
Chaplain Jones
Chaplain (COL) Jerry L. Jones
U.S. Army, Retired
Director/Endorser IPHC Chaplains Ministries
(580) 695-6945
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