George Pickle

ATLANTA – George Pickle, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s associate coordinator for chaplaincy and pastoral counseling, was recently elected a member at large on the executive committee of the National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces (NCMAF).

NCMAF, the leading organization for military chaplain endorsers, is the organization that relates directly to each Chief of Chaplains and their staffs of all branches of the U.S. armed forces, said Pickle. "It’s certainly a privilege to be elected to serve on the executive committee," said Pickle, who will serve in the position for three years. "It’s a primary leadership position."

NCMAF is the umbrella group of approximately 110 religious bodies that endorse chaplains. Founded in 1982, the organization dates to 1901 when the U.S. War Department began requiring military chaplains to be endorsed by a religious body. As a member of the executive committee, Pickle will participate in a wide range of the organization’s functions, including interaction and involvement with various Chiefs of Chaplains, Armed Forces Chaplain Board and other Department of Defense representatives.

Ecumenical in nature, NCMAF incorporates a spectrum of faiths and religious bodies, including Protestant, Roman Catholic, Jewish, Orthodox, Buddhist and Islamic. Members are unified under common spiritual and moral convictions. The diversity promotes dialogue among NCMAF members, who aim to recruit, endorse and oversee military chaplains, while serving as the point of contact between the military and the religious body they represent.

NCMAF is an information source on chaplaincy matters, as well as a supportive presence to military chaplains.

Of the Fellowship’s 442 endorsed chaplains, 109 are military personnel.

CBF is a fellowship of Baptist Christians and churches who share a passion for the Great Commission and a commitment to Baptist principles of faith and practice. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.