OAHU, Hawaii—At Wheeler Army Airfield, chaplaincy looks a bit different these days for Maj. Mark Worrell. For nearly the past two years he has led a Sunday morning chapel service at Impact Chapel, with the congregation gathered on base or, once a month, on Haleiwa Beach. But in light of COVID-19 restrictions, he has been livestreaming the service from his home.
For Easter Sunday, he recorded his sermon from a scenic location and from his home, where he led viewers, his wife and daughter, and his chapel’s two worship leaders in Communion. He encouraged viewers to celebrate Communion “in a spirit of saying, ‘Let’s look forward to getting together again as a chapel family.'”
Each day, Worrell is still ministering to soldiers through a ministry of presence. But that ministry now involves a new normal, with Worrrell “providing socially distanced and virtual counseling,” he says.
During a promotion ceremony at Wheeler Army Airfield, officers stand six feet apart instead of in their usual formation.
The 25th Combat Aviation Brigade is also “maintaining aircraft and flying them often, honoring physical distancing requirements, and still promoting officers,” he says.
