Inside Chapel of the Snows - Sunday Services!

During services....

One of the parishners here at Chapel of the Snows snapped some photos of inside the Chapel and during services yesterday...so I thought I would share them with you. 

Every Sunday we hold Protestant Worship services, right after the Catholic mass.   

My first service here was four  Sundays ago, and  I had no lay leaders or musicians.  

Leading worship

I think the work and ministry here is most like being a missionary, or doing a church start.  With the exception, the Chapel building itself was already here!

Being the first Chaplain to arrive for the Antarctic spring - summer season, I had to build the Chapel programs and recruit people to participate from scratch.  (Over the winter here there are no chaplains).

But now we have many people participating in the services, playing music, reading scripture, assisting with Communion, and more.  It is great!  

Usually about 30 people attend the Protestant services now, and about 12 attend the Catholic mass.  The little chapel holds about 50 people max. 

Two musicians arrive early to play!

We now have many musicians and singers, and now we are starting a Choir!  Yay!

Serving Communion

More and more people keep coming to McMurdo almost everyday.  The town is getting packed. And there are still more to arrive!

In the evenings during the week, the Chapel offers Yoga, Meditation services, Adult Education and Spirituality classes, Bahai services, daily Catholic mass, and AA.

Chapel window and altar

It is a beautiful little chapel, has a wonderfully peaceful feel to it.  Many come in alone just to pray or just relax.

This Chapel was built in 1989 by the Navy and is the second one here.  The first chapel here burned down. 

 Communion

Deployment: Living in the Bardo

Outside my office window, Mt Discovery 

What is it like being deployed far away from home for an extended period?    This is difficult to answer, as I have been on three major deployments overseas in my military career, (Panama, The Middle East and now Antarctica) and each of them have been / are, so very different. 

But one does not have to be in the military to experience deployment.  Most of the people here are civilians, and are deployed here  for the entire 6 month Antarctic spring and summer season.  Some, year after year!

One gentleman told me, the first year they come for the adventure.  The second year, the money, the third and years after that, because they no longer fit in with regular society.

I can appreciate that!!   Face it, it is not normal, or regular life being deployed.

Oh it may seem glamorous traveling the world and seeing new places, and yes, it is exciting.  But it is very hard too.

It is hard to leave one’s home, your loved ones, your pets, the comforts of home, your favorite foods, your LIFE.

Yes, you do miss home.  Pangs of it hit from time to time. 

Time, or perception of time too, is different when you are way.  It moves slowly, and at times fast. 

For those of you familiar with Tibetan Buddhism, then you are familiar with the bardo.

The bardo is a transitional state, life in the "in between" the period after death and before rebirth.   

Being deployed is like living in the bardo.

It is the land of the in between.

You left your regular life behind, you are here...living, working, working very hard and long hours.....learning, growing, meeting new people, seeing things you have never seen before and will probably never see again after you leave....it forever changes you.  You wait, and wait, and wait, until you can come home.

But when you get home, it is always different, because now you have been changed by the experience. 

Living in the bardo changes you.

Doing Interfaith Ministry at McMurdo, Antarctica

I know some of you may be wondering what it is like doing ministry, or being a chaplain here at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. 

Chapel of the Snows is interfaith, and serves all faiths.  McMurdo is like a small town.  It is very unlike any typical military deployment, or even any military assignment, because about 90% of the people here are civilians. 

The Air National Guard provides many support personnel, including the Protestant Chaplain for McMurdo Station & South Pole from September through February every year.  The Roman Catholic priests come from New Zealand.

The priests are here for 30 day tours and rotate.  The Protestant Chaplains are here for 60 day tours, so three Protestant chaplains cover the Antarctic six month spring and summer season.
 
I am here for the first phase.  McMurdo is receiving new people almost every day, so the population is currently growing.  We are about 850 people right now.  Soon there will be about 1200 people here. 

There are no chaplains over the winter, but there are lay persons who are winter overs who provide lay leadership and prayer services. 

OK, so what is it like?

Every day the Catholic Chaplain and I start our day meeting in the chapel, and do Morning Prayer together and have coffee. Caffeine and prayer is a great way to start the day!

A Catholic and a Protestant praying together every morning.  Isn't that great?

When I first got here, I had to get many things set up from scratch.  Computer, email, chapel worship supplies, office supplies, make flyers, establish a chapel weekly schedule of events and activities, set up worship services, create flyers for advertising around town, on the TV station, etc. 
 
But the biggest thing is getting out there and meeting the people, getting to know them, and them getting to know you.  So, I go visiting as much as I can.  This has been tough, as the weather has been so cold, wind blowing so hard at times it is difficult to walk from one building to another.

Visiting and talking with people is called “ministry of presence”.  This is the brunt of doing ministry here right now.  Plus counseling, and if there is an emergency or crisis, we are there too.  But right now, as we are still getting to know people and grow the programs here, it is about getting out there and being with the people.

This also entails talking with them at meal times.  The Galley, or Dining Facility is very large and has many round tables.  Every meal I purposely sit with different people, or with someone sitting by themselves.  This way I get to know more people.  They tend to sit in small groups with their co-workers.  So one day I will eat lunch with the fire guys (fire fighters), the next with the supply guys, the next with the medical people, and so forth. 

It also involves juggling different faiths, different cultures, and dealing with people who have a sort of negative view of religion or chaplains.  One day I was visiting in the Crary lab, just walking around saying hello and introducing myself.  Most people are very friendly.  One person blurted out to me, “I am an atheist!”, and turned away.  I said, “Nice to meet you!”

As I walk and visit, many times I will get in good conversations with people, or they will ask if they can meet with me later to talk in private.  So, much ministry as I walk and talk. 

Tomorrow is Sunday, and like most chapels we will have Sunday services.  Roman Catholic at 9:45 am, and Protestant Services, which I lead at 11 am.

Leading the Protestant services in a multi faith environment can be tricky.  There are dozens of denominations, and there is no way I will please them all.  My services are liturgical, so that will not make the Baptists happy.   But I try to involve people, get people to read the scriptures, lead prayers, get musicians to play and share their gifts...and it is amazing how the little community begins to come together!

During the week, three nights a week Yoga classes are led by members of the community here, and the chapel is packed.  They move all the chairs and stretch away! There are also classes we offer during the week, a Baha’i service, as well, AA meets here too.

In three weeks I will go to the Pole (South Pole) to give them a visit and provide services for them.  But more on that later!!

A Hike Around McMurdo

The Antarctic Sun!

Today was a beautiful sunny day and the wind is not blowing so I decided to take a hike around McMurdo Station and over to the Discover Hut.  This is the hut that was built by Robert Scott during the Discovery Expedition here in 1902.  

I layered up just in case, but actually came back sweating!  It was a great little hike.  How I miss being able to walk around freely!!     I guess I am getting a bit stir crazy here.  Now every time the weather is nice here, I will walk outside!

Discovery Hut, built in 1902

I took many photos.  Here they are...Enjoy!

Cross near Discovery Hut

McMurdo!

The Ocean!

View westward from Discovery Hut

The Chalet, the National Science Foundation building

Me in my office, at Chapel of the Snows

The Ice Desert - An Alien Land - Antarctica

McMurdo Station is actually on Ross Island, on the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf.  Notice, magnetic south pole, is north of us!!

Antarctica has a beauty all its own.  From my office in the chapel here, I have this incredible view, looking southward over the frozen ocean, (the McMurdo Sound and Ross ice shelf) toward the Transantarctic mountains and my favorite mountain, Mt Discovery.  When you can see them, they are quite majestic, especially when the sun is out.

The weather here changes all the time, hour by hour.  There is no such thing as a “sunny day”  or a “cloudy day” here.  The sun does come out, but in an hour it will be cloudy and windy, or snowing.  Later in the day, it maybe sunny again. 

Antarctica is actually a desert, and it is extremely dry here.  It is an ice desert.  It is way more dry here than the American Southwest deserts, or the Arabian desert.  It is the driest place on earth!

You must drink water all the time.  And I mean, ALL THE TIME.  With every meal I drink 4 large glasses of water.  When I get up I drink a liter of water, and in between meals, and before I go to bed.  I must force myself to do this, as I do not get thirsty here.  Most people carry a water bottle with them everywhere they go here.

I have already learned the hard way about dehydration.  Last week I got very fatigued.  Then I got a very bad charlie horse on my back side for a whole day.  And I never get those.  I thought I was drinking enough water, but I was not.  So I upped my water intake, and now I feel better.

This place is inhospitable on all fronts.  Extreme cold, intense wind, no moisture, no plants or trees, no animals, no sounds of birds, no smells except of cold and the diesel trucks and vehicles.  The sounds here are vehicles, helicopters, heaters running, and sometimes the wind whistling and howling.

They say when you go out to the more remote areas, there is no sound at all!

The hills around McMurdo are black, volcanic hills and rock.  The hills that are not covered with snow and ice are black, and have a soot-ish look to them.  In fact, the whole place is devoid of color.  It is mainly black and white here.

The  other day I was walking up the stairs to my dorm building, and happened to look under the building.  Rocks, stones...black and dark reddish, all volcanic.  They looked like moon rocks, iron, or meteorites.  Very alien.  There are no weeds, no grass, no nothing.  No life. 

There is life though.  Right now we just can’t see it.  There is sea life under the frozen ice, and the seals and the penguins are currently in other parts of the continent.  I have not seen any of them as yet .  Sure hope I do!

Yes, this is a very alien place.... with a beauty all its own.    Remote, frozen, foreign.   But it is actually us (humans) that are the aliens here.  Everyone here.... is a foreigner.

Life at McMurdo Station, Not the 9 to 5 Crowd

I have been here now about a week and am learning the culture and meeting many people here. 

What is this place like?  We work 12 hours days, 6 days a week.  Being the chaplain, I do not get Sundays off, so there goes a day off.

We live in dorms, just like the college days.  Some people are doubled up, some dorms are open bay with many beds. 

As I write this, it is the beginning of Spring here, and more and more people are coming in to work the season here.  In February, the vast majority will leave. 

We are 77 degrees south latitude here, and currently 20 hours ahead of you in Arizona  or Pacific time.  So today is Tuesday here, for you it is Monday, but you are 4 hours ahead...but yesterday!


Presently, the sun does set, at about 11 pm, but it does not get dark here.  The sun skims the mountain tops, and rises a few hours later.  It is strange to walk outside at 10 pm, and it is still light outside!   Soon, the sun will be up 24 / 7, and just circle around in the sky.

There are many agencies here, the National Science Foundation, a company called Raytheon, the US Antarctic Program, the USAF, and the Kiwis (New Zealand). 

There is a distinct culture here.   Many of the people here come back, year after year, season after season.  I am one of the rare ones, as this is my first time here.  Most of the people all know each other and have many friends here.

The crowd reminds me of Boulder, Colorado, a bit of Berkeley and Seattle.  There is a mountainy - artsy - adventurist feel to the people here.   The vast majority are civilians working various jobs; scientists, research, support services... Many of them are world travelers.  When not here, they are in Nepal, or going across Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railroad, or some other exotic place.

Many have very high educations, graduate degrees, but may be doing the dishes here.    They come for adventure...and to pay off student loans.

It is a close community.  It is like a small mining town in Alaska.  There are no cell phones here, but we do have pagers.  Being that there are no cell phones, people actually talk to each other!!  In person!!  Amazing!

McMurdo has three bars, a small hospital, a chapel, many dorm buildings, 2 ice runways, the science labs, supply, a very small store, a large dining facility (and the food is very good), and many other buildings.  The buildings are not pretty, they have an industrial look. 

Mt Erebus is only a few miles away, and it is an active volcano.  I can see smoke coming out of its top!  So, isn’t that comforting...we live in sub zero weather, land on ice runways, and live on an active volcano!!

There is a distinct vocabulary here.  Here are a few words I have picked up: 

“Winter overs” - the people who stay here over the Antarctic winter (April thru SEP).  It is mostly dark (night) and very cold.  These are hardy souls. 

“Freshies”  - fresh vegetable and fruits.  These are very coveted things, as all fresh veggies must be flown in.  They last only a few days and then run out.    My first 5 days here we had no freshies, no salads, no veggies.  It was rough!  The winter overs have no freshies all winter long!

“The gerbil gym”  there are 3 gyms here at McMurdo, one of them has treadmills, and stationary bikes, called the gerbil gym.

“Win-fly”  - this is when people fly in at first light, in early August.  Usually no planes can come in during the winter due to the extreme cold and weather. 

“Finjee” - a word made up of an acronym FNG.  It means (expletive) new guy.

“Skua”  - skua means things that are stolen, taken or found or salvaged.  It is from the Skua birds that come in later, aggressive seagulls who snatch the food from your hand as you walk out of the dining hall.  So if you get something stolen, it is “skua’d”, or you just got "skua'd"!

More later!!

Pinning Ceremony, Promotion to Lt Col, McMurdo Style!

For many months I have been waiting for the federal recognition, as it is called to come through on my promotion to Lt Col.  Months have gone by, there have been a few bureaucratic errors, more waiting.  I wondered if I ever was going to get federal rec! 

I tried to visualize getting pinned in my blues, but it wasn't clicking.  Now I know why!!

The other day, I received the news my federal recognition finally came through.  And here I am in Antarctica!

So we decided to do a promotion pinning, McMurdo style!!  In the bar!

I wore my chaplain shirt (it is actually a rugby jersey I am told), as this is my uniform here.  As the commander read the orders, I was pinned, we had wine, and then we went outside to do the oath of office, as a flag must be visible to do this!  And one was over the building two or three buildings over.

It was a great little ceremony.  Unique, unusual, and well worth the wait!

God is always full of surprises!