Navy Chaplain Mike Langston

ATLANTA – In the midst of war, everyone needs pastoral care – even chaplains.

Navy Chaplain Mike Langston, who is endorsed by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, serves in Afghanistan, where part of his responsibilities include providing pastoral care to military chaplains.

Langston serves as the Joint Task Force chaplain for the Combined Forces Command, working with members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and coalition forces.

"As the senior chaplain, I get to take care of other chaplains," said Langston, a native of Birmingham, Ala. "One of the most important jobs I have is to take care of those chaplains, being the pastor to the pastors. I will be the one standing in the gap. The chaplains are out there doing hard work and they need a pastor as well. They are helping people deal with the trauma and horror of war, and they also need help processing the horror they are exposed to."

A week before he left for Afghanistan, Langston was promoted to captain, a rank held by only about 10 percent of Navy chaplains. As captain and the Joint Task Force chaplain, Langston is asked to provide moral and ethical advice to the command in Afghanistan. In addition, he is responsible for strategically evaluating the religious and spiritual needs of all the units and ensuring that these needs are being met.

"I’ll be on the forward edge of the battle area," Langston said. "I’ll be traveling to the military camps in the thick of the war zone. I’ll be ministering to our men and women in uniform right when they are in the thick of battle. I’ll be with them as they walk out and come back, and I’ll be with them in the camps."

Langston, who was endorsed by the Fellowship earlier this year, said one of the many reasons he sought endorsement from CBF was because the Fellowship was inclusive of the people he worked with in his ministry.

"CBF emphasizes being the presence of Christ in the world," said George Pickle, CBF’s associate coordinator for chaplaincy and pastoral counseling. "Chaplain Michael Langston is a presence of Christ in the world in Afghanistan. His presence is a primary ministry of CBF in this traumatic engagement. As Chaplain Langston is called by God, gifted by the spirit of God for this ministry in the Kingdom of God, our prayers are with him in his service. Our prayers are also with his family as he serves in this ministry."

Langston began his career as an officer in the Marines, and after 11 years left to attend seminary. Later, he became a Navy Reserve chaplain and was called to active duty in 1998. Langston served during the Gulf War aboard the USS Guam. He has also served at Camp Lejeune, N.C.; Norfolk, Va.; the Naval Air Station in Keflavik, Iceland; and at the Naval War College and Navy Chaplain School in Newport, R.I.

For more information about CBF chaplaincy and pastoral counseling, contact George Pickle at (770) 220-1617 or gpickle@thefellowship.info or visit http://www.thefellowship.info/Church%20Life/Chaplains%20PC/Endorsees.icm.

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.