Soldiers “tell us most people could care less whether they show up or not at their churches, but we really make a big deal out of them being here,” said Senior Pastor Andy Hepburn of Taylor Road Baptist Church, Montgomery.
The Montgomery Baptist Association church is located between two military bases, Maxwell Air Force Base and Gunter Annex. Because the Air Force base is the home of all Air Force training schools, every person involved in the Air Force is stationed in Montgomery at some point.
And while these people and their families are stationed in its area, Hepburn’s church makes it a priority to minister to them. “They come into our city, and we try to make them feel at home for a year,” Hepburn said.
Church members make themselves available to military families and seek opportunities to provide for their needs by helping with meals and housework and hosting Bible study.
David and Rachel Sulhoff can attest to that. The Sulhoffs moved to the Montgomery area in 2006, when David, a captain in the Air Force, was stationed there. Rachel Sulhoff visited Taylor Road after being invited by a neighbor.
She said it was an answer to prayer.
“They are just truly trying to serve the Lord,” she said, noting the phone calls and other personal efforts to make sure they got plugged in quickly.
Nearly 20 months later, the Sulhoffs are members of Taylor Road and active in a Sunday School class. They have even been able to actively participate in leading worship on Sunday mornings. But Hepburn said there are also challenges in ministering to military personnel, the biggest being that “a lot of people in the military are interested in God but do not yet know God.”
This makes it difficult for the church to establish committed relationships with them, Hepburn said. “They’re either going to flat tell you no or accept Christ. But the biggest problem I face is getting into that ‘inner circle.’”
Hepburn said the most important thing to remember is that ministering to a military family is like ministering to any other family — “the only difference is you only get to do it for a shorter period of time.”
Displaying gratitude, whether it’s a standing ovation when they get back to church after deployment or saying thank you for their service, is also important, he noted.
“I love the military and this church loves the military,” Hepburn said. “And we don’t just say that, but we say that with passion.”
The members of Gateway Baptist Church, Montgomery, also understand passion for military-based ministries. Of the roughly 275 people in this Montgomery Association church, between 20 and 30 percent are involved with the military in some way, said Pastor Alan Cross.
“Being in the military can be hard on people especially when it comes to family and children,” Cross said. “Between long deployments, constant moving and the uncertainty that goes with the military lifestyle, we feel we can be an island of stability in a sea of change.”
The church tries to get military families involved quickly by offering small groups that specifically target them and Awana, a children’s ministry they will continue to find as they move around the country.
But like Hepburn, Cross has found that this ministry is not always easy.
“For obvious reasons, many military personnel are not looking to build strong relationships especially if they are only going to be in a place for a year like many at Maxwell,” he said, noting they often hold back because they don’t want to grow attached before they have to move again. “To counter this, we aggressively love them and invite them into our lives and tell them not to worry about leaving.”
For more information on these church military ministries, visit www.taylorroad.org and www.gatewaybaptist.com.
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