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Basic Retraining: The Role of Congregational Ritual in the Care of Returning Veterans

In the decade since September 11, 2001, more than 2.3 million people have served in the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of these, more than 1.3 million have already left the military to return to civilian life. During the writing of this essay, President Obama announced the withdrawal of some 40,000 troops from Iraq by the end of 2011, and an ongoing plan for the drawdown of troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. Thus, many more soldiers have left or will be leaving the military in the near future, and making the transition to home, family, and, for a good number, their local church. For any veteran, particularly one who has seen combat, the transition from deployment to ordinary daily living is both challenging and long. It is a transition of months and years rather than weeks. It involves dramatic, sometimes wrenching, changes in many aspects of a veteran’s life, from developing a new identity (rather than returning to an old one), to the transferring of loyalties, to relearning numerous habits of mind, heart, and body. Some congregations already provide care during this transition. They acknowledge veterans when they return and thank them for serving. They incorporate veterans and their families in small group ministries aimed at providing support. Some help veterans to find work, to get the health care they need, or to integrate with the local community. Another type of care, however, is offered less often, but is something that churches may be uniquely equipped to provide. Drawing upon the rich storehouse of liturgical tradition, pastors and congregations can provide a ritual= liturgical framework for the transition from the extremes of wartime soldiering to the ordinary habits of Christian living. Perhaps no other community, institution, or helping professional can call upon the same matrix of moral, spiritual, and liturgical authority to help retrain veterans for their lives of Christian discipleship after war.