April 26, 2024
Georgia native Doug Carver leads moving tribute to military personnel, first responders and health care workers
By Roger Alford
NASHVILLE – Retired U.S. Army Chief of Chaplains Douglas Carver led a moving tribute to veterans, active duty military personnel, first responders, and health care workers to kick off the two-day Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting on Tuesday.
Carver, a native of Rome, Ga. and director of chaplain services for the SBC’s North American Mission Board based in Alpharetta, Ga., reminded more than 13,000 Southern Baptist leaders from across the country how blessed they are to enjoy the freedoms afforded them in the United States.
“Freedom as we knew it in America changed almost overnight in 2020 as our nation and the world fought a long and hard battle against the deadly coronavirus pandemic,” he said. “Our workplaces, schools, communities, and churches went into a lock down mode to prevent the spread of the virus. Most of us lived, worked, worshipped, and waited from our homes, praying for the Lord to heal, protect, and free us from the invisible plague that threatened our lives.”
Carver said most health care workers remained on the job throughout the pandemic.
“In fact, their daily workload and hours on the job increased in its 24/7 lifesaving mission and almost desperate intensity,” he said. “I’m referring to the doctors, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who worked tirelessly, sacrificially, and prayerfully to keep us healthy and alive, both during the COVID-19 pandemic and every single day. They deserve our deepest and forever gratitude.”
“Another group of dedicated public servants,” Carver said, “worked just as hard during the pandemic and every day to safeguard our lives and property, to protect the innocent and weak, to keep law and order, and to ensure we can live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness, enjoying the freedom, equality, and justice guaranteed to all American citizens by the Constitution.”
Carver then recognized all soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and all military veterans.
“Our troops have left their bloody footprints at Valley Forge, fought from disease-infested trenches in France during World War I, charged the beaches of Normandy 80 years ago, suffered crippling frostbite from three cold Korean winters, and patrolled through booby trapped rice paddies and triple canopy forests of Vietnam,” he said.
“For the past two decades, American troops have traversed the world’s most dangerous roads and difficult terrain in Southwest Asia, faithfully guarding Freedom’s Holy Light like those who wore the Nation’s cloth before them. Our troops have always been counted on to defend Freedom’s cause, writing a check with their blood to ensure every American has the personal and corporate freedom to enjoy their lives, pursue their dreams, and to worship Almighty God in peace.”
When Carver became the U.S. Army’s chief of chaplains in 2007, he became the first Southern Baptist to hold the post in more than 50 years.
Carver’s four years in that role came during a time when the United States was fighting dual wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. During his tenure, he ensured religious support to a total of 1.2 million soldiers deployed in more than 80 nations, 300,000 Department of Defense civilians and 700,000 military families.
Now at the SBC’s North American Mission Board, Carver serves more than 3,700 chaplains in every realm of service, including in hospitals, police departments and the military.
“Doug is first and foremost a man of God and a humble leader,” said NAMB President Kevin Ezell. “He has led chaplains who are serving in the most difficult circumstances.
By the time Carver retired in the summer of 2011, he had spent 38 years in the U.S. Army, 27 of them as a chaplain
Carver received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and was initially appointed as a regular Army officer in the field artillery branch of the U.S. Army. He surrendered to a call to ministry, and then enrolled at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville where he received a Master of Divinity degree from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. It was his second master’s degree. The other was in strategic studies from the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa.
“The good news today is that Jesus Christ, our Risen Savior, is still liberating the hopeless, poor, oppressed, brokenhearted, blind, and prisoners from bondage to sin,” he told the Southern Baptists as he closed his remarks. “Praise the Lord that the pulpits across our nation today still have the freedom to proclaim the simple message that Jesus is Lord.
