Chaplain looks to new chapel as way to serve military better

HAWAII

It can be a bit embarrassing, admits Msgr. Joseph Estabrook, to say that the center of religious life on the Marine Corps Base in Hawaii is located in a remodeled mess hall behind a Dunkin' Donuts.

The current chapel "isn't very attractive," said Msgr. Estabrook, a priest of the Albany Diocese who is a captain in the U.S. Navy and serves as the command chaplain at the base. "We do our best to make the inside look as gracious as we can," but old pews, a design discordant with function and room for only 300 worshippers make it difficult for the base's 14 chaplains to do their work -- and for the 12,000 active troops there to get to worship services.

But thanks in part to his efforts, a new, $9.5-million chapel will soon be built, with room for 800 people, new religious-education classrooms, a sacristy and multi-purpose meeting rooms.

Values in stone

According to Msgr. Estabrook, a base chapel should be "more than just a church. It's a building that stands for the values we consider important. The building itself speaks to those values. If the building is unrecognizable or hidden, then it doesn't say much.

"We want to make the chapel a beautiful building, a sign of who we really want to be, and a sign of the value of human life. We have the largest, most formidable military anywhere in existence, and the most dangerous thing is to let it go into the hands of people who have no faith or moral dimension. Religion brings a moral dimension to bear on all our decisions. If we were to let go of that, then our military would indeed be a scary thing."

Having a spiritual center at a military base, he added, provides better ministry to military families, who sometimes face different challenges from their civilian peers.

"We [chaplains] can speak to the pain that, at any given moment, you can be a single parent or lose your husband for eight months," he explained. "You walk around with this pain and isolation. If there's one place you can find support, it's at the chapel."

Albany links

In the Albany Diocese, Msgr. Estabrook helped initiate the Office of Family Life and served as its director before his commissioning in 1977.

He is constantly meeting people from such diocesan cities as Watervliet, Scotia and Albany.

"It really raises their morale when you say, 'I'm from Albany, too,'" he said. "Chaplains are naturally drawn to those people who are isolated from the rest of their families, who have to live in a different part of the world, far away from their hometown."

(01-16-03)