Muchow brings naval experience, ministry to St. James Church
Oct. 13—The 175th anniversary of St. James Church continues this weekend with a visit from the Rev. Dr. Donald Muchow, a former Navy Rear Admiral and the U.S. Navy's 20th Chief of Chaplains.
Muchow was born in 1937 in Massachusetts and spirituality was a big part of his family life while growing up. His family would travel nearly 50 miles round trip on Sundays to attend a Lutheran service in either Boston, Worcester or Providence, Rhode Island due to the lack of options in their area.
After earning degrees at Concordia Junior College (Bronxville, NY) and Concordia Senior College (Ft. Wayne) and a master of divinity degree from Concordia Theological Seminary (St. Louis), he entered the ministry of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in 1962 and began working in an inner-city missionary in Baltimore.
Muchow was commissioned into the Naval Reserve in 1964 and entered into active duty in 1967. He received the call twice but turned the offer down. Then a third call came.
You've been called by the Father and the Son and now the Holy Ghost is calling, he recalled his wife telling him. He accepted the offer the third time around.
He served on multiple destroyers and amphibious ships, in naval hospitals and was the staff of the Naval Station in Norfolk before being appointed to the Chief of Chaplains Office at the Pentagon.
"I've served under some great commanding officers and I had a couple who were not great," he said. "But I learned from both types. I learned what not to do and what to do. And along the way I was spared any serious injuries, though I had ample opportunities. I'm just very grateful for the protection God had given me, and my family as well as the people I worked with."
Muchow said that ministry aboard a ship is very intense.
"Most people don't want their pastor or priest hanging around 24 hours a day," he laughed.
Muchow followed three guidelines as a chaplain. He said chaplains provide ministry for people of their own faith, they facilitate ministry for other faiths and they care for everyone, no matter if they are a member of a faith group or not.
"When you are the only chaplain on a vessel, to provide for people who are not in your faith group, in order to accommodate the first amendment—taking a person away from their home and their religious support systems and sending them out to anywhere—the Navy will train lay leaders to facilitate some services for Catholics or Jewish people," he said. "There's also a large manual on ships that list where different congregations are when you pull into an international port."
He recalled many soldiers eager to see the pope when the ships Muchow served on would pull into Naples.
He said to be a chaplain required a check on a person's moral character, their physical fitness—"you don't want to be a dragging anchor for a bunch of marines," he explained—and finally, academic credentials.
Once he served on a small destroyer that was bouncing across the ocean during bad weather and thought, "Oh Lord, why couldn't it be the army? Why couldn't I be on the ground?"
One of his favorite memories came during the early 90s and the fall of the Berlin Wall.
"Many of the Eastern European nations were adjusting to the fact that they were no longer under the Russian empire," he said. "They wanted to reestablish chaplaincies for their own defense forces. So, I spent time, under the NATO umbrella, helping to reestablish chaplaincies for self-defense forces for Poland and the Czech Republic. That was an exciting time. The Chief of Chaplains for these self-defense forces turned to the western nations and said 'can you help us reestablish what communism and atheism took away from us for 45 years.'"
Muchow said when he speaks this weekend he will focus on themes that include being saved—"There's no need to boast about the good things you are doing," he said. "It has no effect on God's disposition toward you"—and sharing the grace of God with others.
"I've tried to think about the history of what faithful people have done in this congregation for 175 years and they are still doing it," he said. "That's pretty remarkable when you think of all that's gone on in the lives of those who have passed through the doors of that building.
The celebration of the 175th anniversary of St. James continues Saturday, Oct. 14. From 3:30 until 5:30 at the McHale Pavilion, 1212 Riverside Dr., in Riverside Park. Free carousel rides will be included.
The anniversary celebration continues at St. James (430 9th St.) on Sunday, Oct. 15, beginning at 2 p.m., and will feature vespers and a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Muchow.
