military chaplaincy Archives - Perspective

Col. the Rev. Canon Lisa Pacarynuk leads as Chaplain General

Leigh Anne Williams — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 12:40:32 +0000

In May 2025, Col. the Rev. Canon Lisa Pacarynuk was appointed as the Chaplain General for the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). She is the first woman to lead the chaplaincy — which currently includes about 400 chaplains, 250 in full-time or regular force service and about 150 in reserve or part-time service deployed across Canada and abroad. She kindly made time to with Perspective about the chaplaincy and her new role:

How diverse are the faiths represented in the chaplaincy?

In fact, we have people of no faith in our chaplaincy … humanist chaplains, Christians of all stripes, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, traditional Indigenous spirituality, and we are working on a training program for a Sikh chaplain and additional humanist chaplains.

How closely do they work together?

We have diverse teams and our motto is ‘Called to serve.’ The idea is that whatever the need is of the person in front of us, it could be expressed to any chaplain and that chaplain would be responsible for facilitating what that person requires. If they were asking for a particular religious service that was not the chaplains’ that they were speaking to, then either they ask a colleague on their team or they have relationships with those in the community to make sure that that spiritual need is provided for.

What are some of the challenges and rewards of working together in this way?

We’re really a model in the worldwide chaplaincies….This idea of chaplains of varying faiths and belief systems working so closely together is quite anomalous for other chaplaincies who are quite focused on the care of their own religious tradition. It’s really enriched all of us in ways that we couldn’t imagine. Starting just even from ecumenical relationships with other Christians. Our Protestant chapels … are an ecumenical group of all the Protestants, whether they be Pentecostal or Baptist or Anglican. It’s a joy and a challenge to work with people of diverse perspectives — finding common ground, finding a place of respect, being open to others’ joys and spirituality and how they express that…St. George’s Chapel in Petawawa is a really active chapel and a really great example of this ecumenical model.

…All of our chaplains are really guided, directed to stay firmly rooted in the tradition that they come from and represent. … So even as you are working closely with other people, you’re not there to lose yourself. You are there to continue to represent who you truly are in that group of people.

When did you feel called to ministry and to the military?

I grew up in Calgary…and in university I discerned a call to certainly greater theological studies. I wasn’t quite sure where it was going to take me, because I grew up Roman Catholic… but I wanted to study theology in a more in-depth way, and so I went straight over to Toronto School of Theology, University of St. Michael’s College after I finished my undergrad. I did a Master of Divinity where, again, as a Roman Catholic layperson, I wasn’t sure what the ministry opportunities were. I did placement work in prison and hospital settings. I felt that institutional chaplaincy was something that I would be drawn to and would be very interested in, as opposed to just regular church work.

And then I saw a poster for Cadet Camp Chaplaincy [as it was called then], which is our cadet and junior rangers program….They were asking for theological students to go and spend summers on these training centres and … offer spiritual care…. I did that for two summers… the second of which was on a working military base where I talked to military chaplains… I really felt that this was a place where I felt called…. I was bilingual. I was adventurous, younger, and felt that having this take-the-church-to-the-people model, bringing the spiritual care to the people, which is kind of what chaplaincy is… was something that I felt really drawn to.

I was hired as a Roman Catholic lay pastoral associate. It’s almost a diaconal role. Pastoral associates had a kind of mandate from the bishop to provide care, help out at churches, bring communion, and do baptisms and weddings where they were required, but in doing that, I felt drawn to greater leadership and felt and saw myself in an ordained ministry position.

I had always dropped in and out of Anglican churches to experience the spirituality and the openness of the Anglican church. In 2008, I discerned that … I had to make the step towards being ordained in the Anglican Church of Canada and found great support from the Anglican Military Ordinariate of the time and Bishop Peter Coffin. Bishop John Chapman was the one who facilitated my training and my eventual reception into the ordination into the Anglican Church of Canada.

What does being the first woman to be appointed Chaplain General mean to you?

It’s always hard to answer because I spent 25 years in the chaplaincy…. You are conscious, as a woman, that you are in the minority. But there was always this growing number of women and a growing recognition that that’s part of our diversity that we really need to continue to foster. Our CAF is made up of men and women and diverse gender identities. Everybody needs somebody to be able to talk to. So, to be the first woman, in a way, you almost feel like it’s a bit late in coming…. But I’m really humbled. I’m really honoured just to be named Chaplain General…. Our motto is Called to Serve and I feel very much called to serve those who serve, and to do that in a way that represents a gender minority in our CAF as an example to all women, especially women of faith. We’ve often been in the minority in our faith communities as well, not recognized as spiritual leaders. So for me, it is a special recognition that women can be spiritual leaders and military leaders. And people have told me that it’s important for them to have that example, and so I honor that.

What proportion of chaplains are women?

About 10 to 15 % of our chaplaincy are women. We would love to have more. I would love to have more because to me that is still clearly not representative of Canadian society, and it is not representative of all of the richness of our faith traditions and their leadership either. And so that is continually [a goal], as we work on recruiting, maintaining a representative face of Canada. It’s really important to me, whether that be spiritual and faith tradition diversity, and certainly gender diversity as well.

Aside from deployments abroad, the CAF often helps with wildfire and floods here at home. Those situations must also be challenging for chaplains.

We’re spiritual first responders when we walk alongside a lot of these other first responders who are going into those disasters when the sensible people are leaving. And it’s a very particular calling to stand alongside people who are doing this difficult work for Canada at home and abroad.

What else would you like readers to know about the work of CAF chaplains?

The chaplains are there in the small times of life, and post COVID, I think we’ve realized that people look for and need connection. …The world is unstable, and so people are looking for grounding and meaning and purpose. I’m really proud that the chaplaincy serves in the Canadian Armed Forces to be that source of hope and inspiration and meaning for people. And as we’re sharing this with [a readership in] the Anglican Church, it’s a place where I think many of our clergy would flourish [serving] either on a part -time or a full -time basis. It’s a very meaningful ministry.

It’s challenging… This is the church that has been sent into this difficult setting… in different parts of Canada and around the world. So, I invite the prayers of our readers because I think our chaplains need prayer and spiritual support and really welcome that. When our chaplains show up in Anglican churches, they’re probably looking for a little bit of nourishment themselves. And so, [I] invite everyone to welcome them and hear their stories, because it’s a very powerful witness to spirit of goodness and hope in the world.

The post Col. the Rev. Canon Lisa Pacarynuk leads as Chaplain General appeared first on Perspective.

Chaplains strengthen ties between Parish of the Valley and Garrison Petawawa

Hilda Young — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 13:14:50 +0000

Garrison Petawawa is located in the town of Petawawa. The Anglican churches in the Petawawa Pembroke area are All Saints Petawawa and St. George’s Alice.

Since his ordination to the priesthood last year, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Squires became an Anglican chaplain and said he has had the honour to preside at services in both churches. “The communities there have been a true blessing to me in my introduction to Anglican ministry,” he said.

“We are very fortunate in the Parish of the Valley and in the Deanery of the Northwest that we are able to regularly call upon military chaplains based in Petawawa and elsewhere to offer Sunday supply and holiday coverage — it’s a huge gift to our local Anglican community,” the Rev. Matthew Brown told Perspective.

Captain Claire Bramma, who is now a unit chaplain for the base in Kingston, Ont., completed a two-year internship with Parish of the Valley in June.

“Having the Rev. Claire Bramma appointed to the Parish of the Valley for two years as assistant curate while she prepared for military chaplaincy helped the historic ties between our parish and our local military community grow even stronger,” said Brown.

Reflecting on some of the highlights from her time in the parish, Bramma said the experience was encouraging for her own faith journey. “I was encouraged by the people of the parish, who really demonstrated their faithfulness and their … courage to grow and learn as churches and as a wider parish,” noting that the concept of an area parish is still relatively new.

Secondly, she said, “I really felt privileged to work alongside the other three full-time members plus the honorary assistant. I found that helped me to see different priestly styles,” she said, adding that the teamwork was good preparation for working with a team of chaplains.

Lastly, she said she was grateful for the chance to practice core pastoral skills. Much of that “learning happened in people’s homes and at the hospital bedside,” she said. It was good to “to see how much people’s faith translated into community service and loving neighbours.”

Lieutenant-Colonel the Rev. Canon Judson Bridgewater served as a chaplain in Petawawa until last year. He is now working in Toronto but commutes back on the weekends as his family stayed in Petawawa when he was transferred. He remains connected and active in the Petawawa community.

Bridgewater initiated the Godly Play program in Petawawa and has continued supporting it by teaching at least once a month. He recounts how God came close to him and he came close to God when he took an introductory course in 2011. He became an accredited trainer in 2015.

After moving to Petawawa in 2017, he introduced Godly Play during the children’s time in worship services. Then the story telling was gradually introduced to the Sunday school. The chapel invested in Godly Play aids and supported a couple of workshops to train adults and teenagers in the process. During the pandemic, Bridgewater pivoted by teaching the program online, which enabled non church-going families to become involved.

Several of the children and adults he trained have decided to become baptized or confirmed, and some are now teaching and running the Godly play program in Petawawa. This carries over to the Parish of the Valley as at least one of the trainings done in Petawawa included members of the Parish of the Valley Sunday school team. This year, he also did a workshop at All Saints Westboro in Ottawa.

—with files from Leigh Anne Williams

Chaplains keep Cathedral connected to the Military Ordinariate

Leigh Anne Williams — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 13:12:27 +0000

Lieutenant-Colonel the Ven. Michelle Staples and Lieutenant the Rev. Katherine Walker both serve as honorary assistants at the cathedral, which is the Canadian Cathedral for the Anglican Military Ordinariate. The walls of cathedral’s Chapel of Reconciliation are lined with the flags of the Canadian Armed Forces and many military units, proclaiming that it is their home cathedral in Canada. Each year, there is a special service with the Bishop Ordinary and chaplains at the cathedral.

Dean Beth Bretzlaff said that LCol Staples (retired) and L Walker’s presence at the cathedral is important in that context. “Having both a retired member of the Forces and a current serving member of the Forces means that we stay well connected to the Military Ordinariate. They bring home the concerns, the issues, the pastoral care, the work that they do around the world,” she said, adding that work gives chaplains broad experience and understanding that means they can also “help us interpret difficult world events in a theologically sound manner.”

They represent all the people that are keeping our country safe and free,” said the dean, noting that means the chaplains are “not just serving the Anglicans in the Forces, they’re serving all the people in the Forces, so that is an interfaith and an ecumenical outreach as well.”

Military chaplains bless parishes and are blessed by them

Lieutenant-Colonel the Rev. Mike Gibbons — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 13:11:12 +0000

The Anglican Church of Canada has a long history of supporting members of the Canadian Armed Forces and their families sending priests to serve in the military as chaplains. None of Canada’s military engagements, from the 18th century to current operations around the world, have been without Anglican clergy in uniform supporting military members. Military chaplaincy is a vital and vibrant ministry of the Anglican Church of Canada, and the Diocese of Ottawa, in particular, has a close connection to Anglican military chaplains. Christ Church Cathedral serves not only as the cathedral for our diocese, but it also serves as the cathedral for the Anglican Military Ordinariate. Christ Church Cathedral, Ottawa is very much the spiritual home of Anglican military chaplains, so that no matter where Anglican chaplains are posted across Canada, or wherever they may be deployed around the globe, they know that they are part of a community that prays for them and those whom they serve.

National Defence Headquarters, centred in the National Capital Region (NCR), is home to much of the administrative infrastructure of the Canadian Armed Forces, and with such a large footprint of military members, there is a need to have a commensurate number of military chaplains posted here to support their work. Chaplains posted to the NCR serve in a variety of roles, whether as unit chaplains, in staff positions, or in senior leadership roles. Many Anglican chaplains seek out opportunities to assist in local parishes in the Diocese of Ottawa. While only a small number of us are canonically resident in the diocese of Ottawa, Anglican chaplains posted to Ottawa seek permission of Bishop Shane Parker to function within the diocese. We see this not only as an opportunity to be of service to a Diocese which supports us in our ministry within the Canadian Armed Forces, but also as a way of being connected in a meaningful way to Anglican liturgy and parish life.

As Anglican chaplains we serve in a multi-faith pluralistic environment, but we need to be rooted in our own tradition in order to serve authentically, and it is through the exercise of this Anglican ministry that we are fed spiritually in order to care for others. Having the opportunity to assist in parishes within the Diocese of Ottawa provides an invaluable gift to us, and we are enormously grateful to both the Bishop and to our clergy colleagues within the diocese who invite us to celebrate, preach, and engage in the full spectrum of ministry within parish life.

My own personal experience of assisting in local parishes is enormously rewarding. For several years I have assisted at Christ Church Bells Corners thanks to the generosity of both the bishop and the incumbents of the parish.

I have been able to celebrate, preach, lead in study, offer pastoral care, and support the wider ministry of this wonderful parish. This has given me a parish home and at the same time it has provided additional clergy support to a busy suburban parish. I have also had opportunities to take services in other parishes when clergy have been on holiday, unexpectedly called away, or have wanted to have a guest preacher on Remembrance Sunday, or another occasion. My ministry within the Canadian Armed Forces is enriched by being close to what is going on in a local parish, and by extension the Diocese and wider Anglican Church. I believe that I am also able to reflect the reality of military service and life for military families to the parish and Diocese.

Anglican chaplains who serve in local parishes are able to enhance the ministry of that parish and serve also as a bridge for current serving Canadian Armed Forces members, veterans, and their families who seek out a parish home here in the diocese.