Military Impact

The Evangelical Catholic began a partnership with the army base in Vilseck, Germany in September 2019. Husband and wife Madeline and Ed form Vilseck’s point person team. Neither Ed, active serviceman, nor Madeline have worked in ministry together prior to becoming the EC’s on-site leaders. Through the mentoring of an EC consultant, Ed and Madeline are learning to overcome the inherent difficulty of balancing their marriage, home life, work commitments, and ministry.

Two posts, separated by a thirty-minute drive, comprise the Vilseck army base. While military bases typically foster close knit community, the distance between posts makes it difficult for the Vilseck residents to build relationships outside of work. The Vilseck community also experiences the typically high turnover common among military personnel and families, increasing the challenge of building relationships. Between short-term deployments, spread-out living accommodations, and families coming and going, Catholic community virtually did not exist at Vilseck.

The high turnover of military personnel and the numerous regulations of military life are two of the largest challenges faced by the movement of discipleship at Vilseck. No one stays on base longer than five years, and with Chaplains turning over as frequently as other servicemen, the parish community is constantly in flux. Temporary duty stations pull active military from the base for periods of time, disrupting the flow of a Reach More^TM training group. The military functions by layers of rules and regulations. Something as simple as the parish providing childcare for a training group requires several levels of approval within the military chain. These challenges have only been heightened due to COVID-19.