What is OCF Really About? Last in a series

Lieutenant General Bruce L. Fister, USAF (Ret.) Executive Director, Officers' Christian Fellowship

This is the last in a series of articles designed to help us understand what OCF is really about and how each of us can be part of the exciting vision of: Christian officers exercising biblical leadership to raise up a godly military

Previous articles discussed the various parts of the OCF ministry, beginning with our lay-led local fellowships. Local fellowships aboard ships and at bases and posts around the world are the core of OCF, because that is where we "glorify God by uniting Christian officers for biblical fellowship and outreach, equipping and encouraging them to minister effectively in the military society." Local fellowships are where the rubber meets the road.

I also wrote about how local fellowships are supported by other components of the OCF ministry. Regional staff members meet with local leaders and provide leadership training and encouragement. Academy and ROTC ministries reach out spiritually to cadets and midshipmen. At Gateways (Ft. Leavenworth, Air University, and Quantico) we minister to more senior officers and newly commissioned officers.

OCF conference centers at Spring Canyon, Colorado, and White Sulphur Springs, Pennsylvania, provide for spiritual training, encouragement and refreshment for military members and their families. Conference centers have the added focus of providing resources to help raise children in the ways of the Lord and equipping teenagers and college students to be spiritual leaders.

I discussed how all OCF ministries are supported by COMMAND magazine and other publications. These publications also encourage chaplains, service members, and families around the world. It is God's work, for His glory: transforming our military for Jesus

If God wants to use OCF to transform the military society for His purposes, then outreach must be part of our local fellowships. Our daily duty performance and our outreach from fellowships are how we minister to the whole military society. Within the context of outreach, many possibilities for including enlisted personnel and their families in OCF activities were presented. I continue to emphasize that beginning this process through your unit, post or base chaplain might be the most appropriate way to proceed. This outreach approach can help support our chaplains, an important OCF responsibility. Our support for chaplains should be designed to help make the chaplain successful, and to share the gospel with all our military families. Whatever approach is taken toward biblical fellowship with enlisted personnel, the proper observation of service customs and protocols between junior and senior officers, and between officers and enlisted personnel is biblical and is always appropriate. Outreach to enlisted personnel and their families is an important component of our ministry; through prayer, let the Holy Spirit be the guide.

Throughout this series I have written about the importance of exercising biblical leadership every day, professionally in our units and aboard our ships. Integrating biblical standards of leadership and excellence into our professional responsibilities will not only make us better officers, but it provides a basis from which we can serve as a witness to those around us. It was within this context that I emphasized the important responsibility of Christian officers exercising leadership to prepare for the support of families during unit deployments.

The consistent practice of biblical leadership on the part of officers will facilitate two other important functions that have not been discussed. The first is to be supportive in preparing your unit spiritually for deployment. The purpose here is to assist the commander or chaplain in fulfilling their responsibilities and to maintain fellowship at deployed locations under circumstances that may be much more difficult than during garrison operations. Often, deployments are unscheduled, so these preparations should be made long before unit notification. Deployments may offer the greatest opportunity for ministry.

Another area where you should exercise spiritual leadership is in the coordination and support of other ministries on your post or base. Officers are commissioned to lead, so it is natural for local leaders or area coordinators to help facilitate coordination among parachurch organizations. This does not mean to "take over" or "gain credit," but to help a Navigator representative, a Christian Military Fellowship leader, a Campus Crusade leader, etc., to become more effective in ministry for our Lord. In John 13:34 Jesus commanded that we love one another, and in Romans 12:5 Paul says that we are one in the body and that each one belongs to the other. Simple coordination, support, and demonstration of love for one another will make all of our ministries and those of our chaplains a more powerful witness for our Lord.

In summary, OCF is about ministering to the whole military society. The equipping, encouraging and reaching out comes from local fellowships and the support comes from regional representatives, from Academy, ROTC, and Gateway ministries, from conference centers and through OCF publications. The complete OCF ministry should function together and the result I see is:
Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coastguardsmen, and military families ---active duty and retired- being led and ministered to by Christian officers. That is the mission. A transformed military is the vision.