Church

[soproud]

Hi!  Does anyone know if they will be allowed to go to church today?  If so, how does that work?  Is there a chapel on site?  Do they ask who is interested and then just take them?  I know my son will really want to go today.  Hoping there is a way.  Thank you!

[Ceej0347]

Soproud- I don’t think it is available while in processing.  Which I believe our SR’s should still be in. But once they get to their permanent(so to speak) ships then they will ask the SR’s who is interested and they sign up.  

[Chipmunk]

soproud - It is my understanding from what my SR told me that, at least with his division, they had to sign up they were going to attend chapel. Now, if they signed up that they were going to attend chapel and then still did not get all of their tasks done that had to be done, and they didn't go to chapel then they could get in trouble. I believe my son spent most of his time on Sunday, just trying to catch up on other things that had to be done. Whether that was a lack of planning on his part, or the fact that as a section leader (STICK) was what he called it, and in the beginning having to do night watches a lot, because others were SIQ (sick in quarters) due to getting wisdom teeth pulled, that he had a lot of other responsibilities on his plate. In most of his letters, he said he only had about 10 - 20 min to write so that he got everything done.

The recruiters made Sunday sound like a free day, and they could take longer showers, go to chapel, etc, but that wasn't my son's experience. And he may just not have wanted to get in trouble, so didn't try to sign up. But I also know that Anti M, has commented that going to church on Sunday, was at least one hour out of the week where you didn't have anyone yelling at you. So, encourage your son, that they have chapel, but also don't be upset or overly bothered if he doesn't attend.

That is where you come in as his encourager, share scriptures or scripture filled encouraging words in your letters. I wrote out song lyrics of some of his favorite songs from a Christian group, that I thought would be an encouragement when he went through BS-21 (battle stations). I know he knew them, but it brought comfort to me listening to one of his favorite bands (one of mine as well) and choosing lyrics that I thought would encourage him and allow  him to read through them again.

[soproud]

Thank you Chipmunk!  I know he was really hoping to have that spiritual renewal time, but like you said, who knows what reality has in store for them :-) I will definitely do what you suggested and write scriptures out in my letters to him.  Appreciate your feedback!

[Chipmunk]

Soproud, you are welcome. I do hope that your son is able to make it to chapel and have a chance for some spiritual renewal. I just know I kept trying to ask my son about him being able to go to chapel, and really didn't get much out of him since his letters were very short, and our phone time was also very short. It wasn't until after PIR (also with little time, for various reasons) that I had a chance to ask him about chapel.

I didn't find N4M until right before his PIR and so I had gone on the assumption, from what the recruiters said, that Sunday was holiday and they would be able to go to chapel. Well what I had an impression of Sunday and like you said, what the "reality" was for my son (or his own understanding) were two different things. I'm not trying to burst bubbles, I just wish to share that not every experience is the same for every recruit or sailor. This was my son's experience, and unfortunately, I really didn't have the knowledge or understanding to start supplying that extra spiritual food in my messages / letters to him from the very beginning, as much as I did more so towards the end of his bc time.

Hopefully, you will be able to encourage your son more, than I was. I also have the impression that a lot of it depends on their RDC, and some are stricter than others. I think my son's RDC was a lot more strict when it came to signing up for chapel. This was an entirely new ballpark for my son, and the desire to make sure he was doing everything right and not fail fell very heavy on his shoulders. I was disappointed that he didn't feel like he could attend chapel (just because that is how I am as a mom), but I also was okay with him not going and honestly spent more time praying for him than just about any other time in his life, because I knew he wasn't getting that renewal.

Blessings -

[Phoenixmom]

Hi soproud, I know when my son was attending BC, he too liked attending mass and what not. He was in charge of signing those that wanted to attend on Sundays, according to him fewer and fewer people were signing up so that privilege was taken away. My Son was really upset when that happened.  here is the website for chaplain at Boot camp. hope this helps.

Chaplain - Recruit Training Command - Navy.mil

[Chipmunk]

hooyahsuzy - That would have been my first thought, that the recruits could not be denied attending chapel. But when your child is at boot camp, there is very little communication that can be expressed to fully understand the situation. If my son felt that he had the freedom to attend chapel without any repercussions, I am sure he would have taken the opportunity to do so. But the way it was presented to him, (as I understood the conversation we had after PIR), he had to sign up for chapel, but he also had to have all of his "required" Sunday tasks done as well. If he didn't think he could get those done in time to be able to attend chapel, then he didn't sign up to go, because if he did sign up for chapel and then didn't go, he was in trouble as well.

To me, any of this is unacceptable persuasion to get a recruit to perform to do something, and a misrepresentation by the recruiters of what Sunday "holiday" time is actually like at boot camp. For my son, he chose to forfeit going to church, to make sure he didn't get in trouble and to make sure he got the "long list of tasks" accomplished. Were some of those tasks things he should have already had done, I have no way of knowing, and no way of knowing whether he was being a good manager of his time. I am just trying to convey what my son's experience was with going to chapel. 

I don't know that it could be proven that the RDC's had "denied" my son from attending any service, but I would say he was given the impression that there would be severe punishment if he did sign up to attend, then failed at his other duties, such that he couldn't attend chapel after signing up for it. Either way, this is not how I dealt with situations in our home when raising my son.  But, when I agreed to sign for my son to join the Navy, I knew I was releasing my parental authority over to the military authority, and from a distance, with limited ability to contact anyone at RTC (I didn't even have this site) when my son was in boot camp, I just had to trust my son to make the best judgment calls that he could and to know that I had raised him well. And do my own part in praying for him.

This discussion for me raises a lot of questions as to  1) What actually is being presented to the recruits by the RDC's regarding chapel services?  2) What are the "jobs", "tasks", "duties", that occur on Sunday, such that they only have 10 - 20 min to write home (as my son usually said), or get those jobs done, so that they don't feel they have the time to attend chapel, 3) what are the recruiters conveying to their prospects regarding Sundays and chapel at RTC and what is actually taking place?

It seems to be something that needs to be addressed by someone, so that future recruits actually know what to expect, or their family members know what to expect. I don't know who that would be that is able to get this addressed, but I will definitely talk to my son again about his experience the next time he is has some free time. This was the perspective that I had, of what Sunday and church services were allowed for my son. 

Thank you for your insight as well.

[Anti M]

Here is the information on the RTC chaplain services.

http://www.bootcamp.navy.mil/chaplain.html

Sunday is supposed to be a non-training day, with "holiday routine".  Some RDCs respect this, others less so.  The recruits rarely have the knowledge that they can insist on chapel, even if it is the personal meditation time.  They are simply too overwhelmed, and too eager to do nothing wrong, nothing out of the ordinary.  And yes, they have to iron their uniforms, polish their boots, clean, practice and study for tests, perhaps write letters, and be on top of all their chores.  Fitting in chapel can be difficult.  They're more likely to find time to go later in their training, after getting through  the confusing first three or four weeks.

[maristar2]

soproud, When my son was in BC he attended mass one of the 1st Sundays that he was there and he said it really helped him out a whole lot. Sometimes he had alot of things to get done and couldnt attend but at times they would pray or talk about God with some shipmates.