Religious support teams minister to building occupants

  • Published
  • By Mark Wyatt
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
In order to better meet Hanscom's spiritual needs, Religious Support Teams, or RSTs, will soon take to buildings across the base to provide religious support and spiritual counsel to members of the Hanscom workforce. To begin this effort, a team has setup an office in Building 1614 to minister to the employees working there.

"The Air Force Chief of Staff passed down a directive through the Air Force chief of chaplains that a chaplain and a chaplain assistant work as a team to be engaged in a unit," said Chaplain (Capt) Michael Gorton. "It really coincides with his vision to take care of Airmen; he wants to make sure that is reflected through the Chaplain Corps."

Gorton and Staff Sgt. Jenny Cate, a chaplain assistant, will be working in the building two days a week, on Mondays and Fridays.

The Air Force Chaplain Corps provides spiritual care as well as the opportunity for Airmen, their families and other authorized personnel to exercise their constitutional right to the free exercise of religion. This is accomplished through religious observances, providing pastoral care and advising leadership on spiritual, ethical, moral, morale and religious accommodation.

"The Religious Support Team, or RST concept, is to be out and among the people," said Gorton. "The leadership in Building 1614 has been very accommodating in providing us office space to minister and meet this objective."

"In the past, the approach has been to work exclusively out of the chapel," said Cate. "Then when we have RST time, or Unit Engagement Time, we drive from the chapel to the various units across base."

Cate said they will be available for any chaplain service that people would see an RST for in the chapel.

"Among the services we will be providing to personnel is counseling or even a morale visit to someone who is having a tough day who may want to talk," she said.

It will also be a more convenient way for leaders seek advice advice they could need on a variety of topics.

"We will be available for leadership as well; one of the things that RSTs do is advising leadership on ethical, moral and morale issues," said Gorton. "For some commanders it might have been a challenge to come over to the chapel as it's just hard to get away from the unit, but now with us in the building it can be as simple as a walk down the hall."

Cate points out that the building is so large that you may not see the same person twice in a day.

"We want personnel in the building to know that we're in there and they can come to us, she said. "We're there for them,"

Although Gorton and Care have only been working in Building 1614 since March 31, many are already seeing the chapel's RSTs actively engaged across the base in other areas. The plan is to have an RST working out of the Resiliency Center by this summer, depending on manning.

"It is our goal to have at least 50 percent of our chapel man hours committed to unit engagement," said Chaplain (Maj.) Robert Borger, Hanscom installation chaplain. "So we greatly appreciate base leaders allowing the chapel teams to use their valuable office space."

For further information or to schedule a time to meet with a chaplain, contact the Hanscom Chapel at 781-225-5501.