{"id":149915,"date":"2024-04-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=149915"},"modified":"2024-04-16T22:33:39","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T22:33:39","slug":"chaplains-invite-interfaith-council-to-camp-zama-for-first-time-to-build-partnership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=149915","title":{"rendered":"Chaplains invite interfaith council to Camp Zama for first time to build partnership"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Maj. Tsung-Yu Pan, right, deputy command chaplain for U.S. Army Garrison Japan, briefs members of the Tokyo Interfaith Council while visiting the Camp Zama Chapel in Japan April 11, 2024. Council members and two Navy chaplains toured the installation while everyone exchanged information and ideas on how they can assist each other.
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\n Col. J.P. Smith, right, command chaplain for U.S. Army Japan, speaks with April Cook, a founding member of the Tokyo Interfaith Council, during the council’s visit to Camp Zama, Japan, April 11, 2024. During the event, council members and two Navy chaplains toured the installation while everyone exchanged information and ideas on how they can assist each other.
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\n Col. J.P. Smith, lower right, command chaplain for U.S. Army Japan, speaks with members of the Tokyo Interfaith Council during their visit to Camp Zama, Japan, April 11, 2024. Council members and two Navy chaplains toured the installation while everyone exchanged information and ideas on how they can assist each other.
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CAMP ZAMA, Japan \u2013 U.S. Army chaplains and their staff hosted an interfaith council for the first time here Thursday as part of an ongoing effort to strengthen their relationship with local religious leaders.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Army Japan Chaplain Directorate, in collaboration with the U.S. Army Garrison Japan Religious Support Office, welcomed 14 members of the Tokyo Interfaith Council, which is comprised of several faith groups.<\/p>\n

Last year, Army chaplains toured the renowned Meiji Jingu Shinto Shrine in Tokyo, which initially piqued their interest in forging bonds with faith leaders in the surrounding community. A few months later, they hosted a group of Shinto priests for a visit to Camp Zama.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat really started this interest in, \u2018How do we become more familiar with the religious leaders in the area?\u2019\u201d said Col. J.P. Smith, command chaplain for USARJ. \u201cAnd not only that, \u2018How can we share with them what we do here?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

As they broadened their outreach, the chaplains also contacted the Tokyo Interfaith Council and attended meetings with them as well as religious services at their places of worship.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re hoping is that not only did this start a dialogue,\u201d Smith said, \u201cbut now we will be able to continue that through getting out and interacting with other organizations and religious leaders out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

During last week\u2019s event, council members and two Navy chaplains visited the USARJ headquarters and Camp Zama Chapel and took a bus tour of the installation. Chaplains also briefed them on the Army\u2019s mission in Japan while everyone exchanged information and ideas on how they can assist each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey represent many different faith groups that we don\u2019t have here,\u201d said Lt. Col. Damon Saxton, chaplain for USAG Japan. \u201cAnd we we\u2019re hoping to build relationships, so that some of our service members who don\u2019t have a faith home could have a place that they could call their faith home.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Col. J.P. Smith, command chaplain for U.S. Army Japan, speaks with members of the Tokyo Interfaith Council during their visit to Camp Zama, Japan, April 11, 2024. Council members and two Navy chaplains toured the installation while everyone exchanged information and ideas on how they can assist each other.
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\n Lt. Col. Damon Saxton, chaplain for U.S. Army Garrison Japan, briefs members of the Tokyo Interfaith Council during their visit to Camp Zama, Japan, April 11, 2024. Council members and two Navy chaplains toured the installation while everyone exchanged information and ideas on how they can assist each other.
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\n Maj. Tsung-Yu Pan, left, deputy command chaplain for U.S. Army Garrison Japan, introduces himself to members of the Tokyo Interfaith Council during their visit to Camp Zama, Japan, April 11, 2024. Council members and two Navy chaplains toured the installation while everyone exchanged information and ideas on how they can assist each other.
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\n Col. J.P. Smith, left, command chaplain for U.S. Army Japan, explains his military coin before providing them to members of the Tokyo Interfaith Council during their visit to Camp Zama, Japan, April 11, 2024. Council members and two Navy chaplains toured the installation while everyone exchanged information and ideas on how they can assist each other.
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Saxton said he and others were glad to show a closeup view of U.S. Army life to the council members not familiar with the military.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe gained some great friends and partners in the community,\u201d he said. \u201cMilitary members are always told that we are ambassadors wherever we go, and so, as we interact with the community members and they see a positive side of the military, it helps the relationship the military has with the surrounding communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

April Cook, who helped establish the council in 2019, said the Army religious teams rolled out the red carpet for her fellow members, who represented an array of Christian, Jewish and Baha\u2019i\u00a0faith groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s visit was absolutely incredible,\u201d she said. \u201cThe way that we were received really just amazed me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cook said the council has been working on a similar mission to reach out to other faith leaders to spread religious freedom and access to services.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime that we can connect more with people who are trying to do those things is a benefit to us,\u201d she said, \u201cand also to those groups trying to enrich those understandings of faith in their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a briefing on the Army chaplaincy at the chapel, Cook said she was surprised to learn how the Department of Defense recognizes over 200 different faith groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe importance that has been placed on helping members of faith to be strengthened in whatever they believe, I was really impressed by that,\u201d she said. \u201cThat was a really strong message.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrew Scheer, a rabbi and one of the council\u2019s leaders, also believed the role of the chaplains closely aligned with that of the council members.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, we\u2019re there to meet the need of who were serving,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Scheer, who previously served in the Army Reserve, enjoyed the opportunity to be back on an Army installation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever I can come to Zama it\u2019s a reminder of what feels like a previous life in a lot of ways,\u201d he said, \u201cand it just heartens my soul to be around, specifically, Army chaplains.\u201d<\/p>\n

While he understood how the chaplaincy supports those in the military, Scheer was still thrilled when he heard Army chaplains tell him during the visit that they also wanted to help his organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust that sense of warmth and openness and of figuring out the mission together \u2013 that\u2019s something I didn\u2019t expect but was a tremendous highlight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Smith said he and his religious teams plan to put those words into action in the coming months.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe takeaway for them is, this is only the beginning,\u201d he said of the council. \u201cIt\u2019s going to continue on here \u2026 and we believe that this will help our military personnel as well as the people in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related links:<\/strong><\/p>\n

U.S. Army Garrison Japan news<\/a><\/p>\n

USAG Japan official website<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 Maj. Tsung-Yu Pan, right, deputy command chaplain for U.S. Army Garrison Japan, briefs members of the Tokyo Interfaith Council while visiting the Camp Zama Chapel in Japan April 11, 2024. Council members and two Navy chaplains toured the installation while everyone exchanged information and ideas on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149917,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-149915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=149915"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149925,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149915\/revisions\/149925"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/149917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=149915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=149915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=149915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}