ATLANTA – Not many people fully understand the unique challenges of being a chaplain, but Julie and Mark Flores come home each day to a person who does.

The couple, who have been married seven years, are both endorsed as Cooperative Baptist Fellowship chaplains. Julie is a full-time staff chaplain with Centra Health System in Lynchburg, Va., working with hospice and oncology patients, and Mark is a U.S. Air Force Reserve chaplain.

For Julie, her introduction to pastoral care began in childhood, as she watched her missionary parents interact with the people of Chile.

“I watched how my parents responded to people in crisis, and I think that planted the seed in me,” she said.

A graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Julie spent two years as a chaplain resident and six years as a staff chaplain in Birmingham, Ala.  And in 2002, she and Mark made the mutual decision to seek the Fellowship’s endorsement.  

Once she felt called to chaplaincy, Julie began to think about being ordained. “We felt like CBF was a place where people recognized my calling and supported me,” she said.

It was at Julie’s urging that Mark began to work as a chaplain, but his calling was a little different than his wife’s.  Growing up in San Antonio, Texas, Mark was surrounded by military personnel, including many family members. At the age of 18, Mark was ready to join as well, but he wasn’t accepted. After finishing college and seminary, Mark tried the military again.

“I thought that I’d be rejected again, but I wasn’t,” he said. “I think it was God’s will. God was saying ‘wait.’ At 18, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but now I have a purpose.”