CRAWFORD, TX (UMNS) -- When President George W. Bush comes home to his Texas ranch, residents are accustomed to seeing an entourage of Secret Service agents, world leaders and reporters around their town.
The President has been much less visible in Crawford since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. There are no indications his popularity has slipped in the small town of barely more than 700 people, but the realities of a difficult war hit closer to home recently when townspeople learned the pastor of Crawford’s First United Methodist Church is being deployed to Iraq.
The Rev. Kent Berry will leave soon for 18 months of active duty as a chaplain for a Texas Army National Guard engineering unit. Berry has met President Bush and also corresponded with First Lady Laura Bush.
The Bushes, who are United Methodist, have attended worship services at the Crawford church once since Bush was elected President and were there several times while he was governor of Texas.
Even though it means separation from his family, the 50-year-old pastor supports the administration’s policy in Iraq. He will not be involved in active combat, but knows the situation is dangerous.
“There’s a lot of blaming going on, which is not helping,” Berry said. “So I would just say to continue to look at the worthiness of the goal, which is to stabilize that part of the world and enable these folks to self-govern, and get out as soon as we can.”
“We’re short chaplains across Army lines, across the board,” Berry said.“It’s my responsibility. There are battalions over there without chaplains.”
Berry said the most difficult part of the deployment would be the time apart from his wife, Vicki, and their three children, who range in age from 12 to 17.He will spend six months training before going to Iraq.The deployment could mean he will miss his oldest daughter Bethany’s high school graduation next year.
“This is not easy for anyone,” said Berry.“Not being here for the day in and day out routine of taking the kids to school, being at their ball games.”
Berry’s wife is a teacher and leads the church choir. Even though she knew the deployment orders would likely come, she said,“It’s taken quite a bit of getting used to.I don’t think I will really, ultimately be prepared for it. When he leaves, it will hit like a bombshell.”
The couple’s 12-year-old daughter, Britney, also said the separation will be difficult. But she is proud of her father because “he’ll be over there fighting for our country and for Iraq.”
An interim pastor will lead the congregation during his absence, but church members want Berry to return after his deployment.
“One of the first questions I had was, ‘Kent, why did you get into the National Guard?’” said church member Brent Duncan. “And his response was, he was called from God to do that. And so now we know what the mission is.”
Jerry Lynch, a lifelong member of the Crawford church, described Berry as a “very loved man” in the community. “He has done so well in this church,” she said. “Yes, we want him back, very much.”
*Gordon is a freelance producer residing in Marshall, Texas.
News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.· E-mail: newsdesk@umcom.org.
