Veteran/Military Friendly Congregations

November 10, 2018 Blount County Tennessee.

The United Veterans of Blount County hosted Blount County’s  50th Veterans Day Celebration at Rio Revolution Church.  Special Guest speaker was  Lt. Col Army Ellison “Vic” Vickery gave an inspirational service and sacrifice speech.

Vic’s told us that he never felt comfortable responding to anyone who “thanked him for his service” until his wife Suzanne suggested responding with “You’re worth it!”

Thank you Mrs. Suzanne Vickery for your recommendation.

We are grateful to all who have served, whether in peacetime or in periods of conflict. Especially for those who have fought on the battlefield, those who continue to bear wounds both seen and unseen. We pray for physical healing and God’s peace in your life.

On behalf of the Veterans/Military Friendly Congregation we wish everyone a blessed and happy Veterans Day.

Rio Revolution is a VMFC Lead Congregation.

One in every five Servicemembers returns from combat with at least one serious mental health issue. With only 16 psychologists per every 100,000 rural residents, rural Veterans face greater access challenges when seeking mental health support.  Moreover, rural Veterans are more likely than their urban peers to suffer from current and lifetime depression or commit suicide.

The Office of Rural Health (ORH) is committed to working with our clinical partners to address these challenges through a variety of programs that connect rural Veterans with VA mental health care programs closer to home. Continue reading “VA’s Telehealth Care for Rural Veterans with PTSD”

Tonya Stoutt-Brown, Christian citizen of Blount County Tennessee and a radio personality on Joy 620 AM radio, has written a play about a WWII veteran who comes home and struggles with his depression and PTSD as a result of the war.  Tonya’s play has been performed for years in her small church in Blount County.  The previous shows have been sold out and continues to grow in popularity and numbers.  This year, the play has moved to a larger church, First Baptist Church Maryville, to accommodate a larger audience.  The tickets are free and the play is humorous, realistic, educational and fun.  Tonya advised us that the vast majority of the previous shows were veterans and their families and have always identified veterans who were need support.  Continue reading “VMFC Creates faith-based comedy-drama play about PTSD”

Redemption Church in Knoxville is one of the oldest Veteran/Military Friendly Lead Congregations in the Country and is hosted the first Women Veteran Summit in Knoxville Tennessee on October 4th.  Honored guest include MCA’s Executive Director Razz Waff and MCA’s VFMC leader Everett Price.  This summit is to show that it take more than the VA to take care all of our veterans, it takes a caring community!.

Redemption Church, 3550 Pleasant Ridge Rd, Knoxville, TN 37921.

Check in begins at 8:00 am  Program begins at 9:00 am.

Click here to read the full program.  Let’s start one in your congregation!  Keep the prayers and support flowing.  For more information how to create a Women Veteran Summit please contact Emily Hager, Women Veterans Committee Chairwoman at ehager@tnvhc.org or visit the summit website at https://womenvetssummit.tnvhc.org/.

 

 

Executive Director Notes

This has been an absolutely great week. It started with a great learning opportunity for me and ended the same way. Wish we could all have such weeks on a regular basis. 

I spent last week in Anaheim at the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) national conference getting smart on CAP chaplaincy. Many thanks to the gracious hospitality of the CAP Chief of Chaplains, CH, Col, Charlie Sattgast who invited me to attend. Wednesday was spent with Charlie and his leadership team and was a great immersion process as they reviewed the past year’s events and milestones and looked at the “way ahead”.   Continue reading “MCA, CAP, VTVT, VMFC?”