c. 2003 Religion News Service
(UNDATED) Technology is coming to the aid of U.S. military chaplains as they work abroad and stateside to minister to their troops.
Army Chaplain Mark E. Thompson said Bible software products such as one developed by Logos Research Systems has replaced dozens of books he couldn’t carry with him to the Iraqi desert.
“There is no way that I could ever carry (the) books it represents, let alone have the time to find what I need,” he told Religion News Service in an interview via e-mail. “We use it for devotions, Chaplain’s Thoughts for the Day, Bible study and sermon prep.”
Daniel Foster, spokesman for the Bellingham, Wash.-based company, said the use of laptop computers in the field has allowed chaplains to carry biblical software with them.
“They have access to all these books _ hundreds or even thousands of Bible reference books and multiple translations of the Bible _ and put together in-depth sermons or Bible studies,” he said.
Other portable high-tech products range from structures for worship to “hymnplayers” that replace the traditional chapel keyboard.
The “containerized chapel” is a recent addition to chaplains’ possible gear.
“Everything is self-contained _ the chairs, the literature, the heating and air, PA (public address) system everything you would need in a service,” said Nella Hobson, public affairs officer at the U.S. Army Chaplain Center and School, of the 100-seat structure.
Chaplain (Major) Harry Reed, an instructor at the school at Fort Jackson, S.C., said a digital “hymnplayer” also is in the chaplains’ inventory.
“It’s about the size of a CD player but … it will have thousands of hymns,” he said.
Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Eric Wester, spokesman for the Army Chief of Chaplains Office, said the biggest change since the first Gulf War has been the jump in Web-based resources.”
“There are specific resources that are available for religious education, sermon preparation, study, spiritual encouragement,” Wester said
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