Student Chaplains

Army Chaplain Rudolf Albert Renfer had just finished a Sunday battlefield sermon somewhere in Germany when shrapnel from enemy artillery put him out of World War II. Two years ago, Presbyterian Renfer became professor of church history and missions at nondenominational, fundamentalist Dallas Theological Seminary. But when the Korean war broke out, he began worrying about the chaplaincy again --a branch of the ministry that looked as though it would be around for a long time.

His own experience had shown up plenty of shortcomings in the training of chaplains, he decided. There had been too much "material emphasis in chaplains' training, the emphasis on the purely social gospel. When a man is dying, he doesn't give a hang about social betterment. In the last analysis, what he wants is a ministry of conviction and spiritual comfort." Renfer felt that, at fundamentalist Dallas, most of his young theologians hardly needed to be told that. But he thought there ought to be a special course "to teach them a new way to use a tool they already have or should have." He started what is considered the first specific course in chaplaincy training to be offered in a seminary.

Last week, after 32 lectures from Professor Renfer and visiting chaplains, six theological students of assorted denominations took the final exam. Most of their curriculum had dealt with technical matters, e.g., "Types of Ministry and Duty" on shipboard, with the Air Force, the infantry, in hospitals, and in induction and separation centers. Next semester, with an estimated enrollment of 20, Renfer expects to include training in such skills as pitching a pup tent, finding a water supply, staying healthy while living in the open.

Renfer stresses the Army's character-building program, but warns his chaplains-to-be that character-building isn't enough by itself; it has to be accompanied by spiritual aid. He soberly advises against trying to cheer up the wounded with jokes. "I don't do that," he says. "I always say to myself: 'I may never see that boy again. This may be my last chance to give him spiritual conviction and comfort.' "

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