Club Meeting 26 September 2018

Guest Speaker Reverand Catie Inches-Ogden was inspirational whilst at the same time, quite sobering. Catie has been an Army Chaplain in a part time capacity and is currently priest in charge of the Anglican Parish of Northern Albury. She told us that there are 5 areas for a Chaplain to cover; Pastoral Care, Ethical Advice, Spiritual Development, Religious Support and Character Development. Chaplains have to provide support for all sorts of issues, ranging from dealing with personnel who have lost important belongings through to assisting people cope with the death of colleagues. She let us know that all recruits spend time with Chaplains to help them identify values and potential ethical dilemmas that they may have to deal with throughout their career. Religious support extends to Christians, Jewish people, Muslims etc. As part of their job, Chaplains support and preside over events such as ANZAC days and other similar ceremonies. Catie was particularly proud to have spoken at one such ceremony at an Australian War Memorial Dawn Service. We talked about how difficult it can be for Chaplains to reconcile the essential difference between the violence of the armed forces and their own personal faith. Catie certainly has an interesting and rewarding job!