{"id":7050,"date":"2021-11-30T20:31:44","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T20:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/?p=7050"},"modified":"2021-12-03T01:01:44","modified_gmt":"2021-12-03T01:01:44","slug":"opening-doors-first-muslim-chaplain-joins-mdng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/2021\/11\/30\/opening-doors-first-muslim-chaplain-joins-mdng\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Bridges – MDNG Commissions First Muslim Chaplain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Article by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Sarah M. McClanahan, Maryland National Guard Public Affairs Office<\/em><\/p>\n

Photos by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Sarah M. McClanahan, Maryland National Guard Public Affairs Office; Courtesy photos<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

U.S. Army 1st Lt. Edrees Bridges was commissioned into the Maryland National Guard on August 19, 2021, making MDNG history as the first chaplain of the Muslim faith and enabling the Chaplain Corps to now support a variety of faith traditions: Jewish, Muslim, and Christian.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Bridges, a former chaplain of the Maryland Defense Force and current special agent with the U.S. Capitol Police, this opens the door for not only chaplains of Muslim faith, but also for service members to experience diversity.
<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cIt shows our state and our nation’s commitment to have a Chaplain Corps that’s a reflection of our military,\u201d said Bridges. \u201cIt opens the door for other Muslim chaplains [and] for other chaplains of other faiths or spiritual traditions, which are not represented in the [MDNG].\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Diversity is important because it expands the reach of the MDNG\u2019s chaplains and their ability to positively impact as many people as possible, according to U.S. Army Lt. Col. Yorlondo Wortham, state chaplain for the MDNG.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile every chaplain is trained to assist any and every military member, each chaplain is a member of a specific faith community,\u201d said Wortham. \u201c[Bridges] can help us meet the needs of our Muslim Soldiers and families.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While Bridges is the MDNG\u2019s first Muslim chaplain, he prefers to be known as the MDNG\u2019s first chaplain for the Muslim faith tradition. Switching the order of his title is a distinction that is important to him because he\u2019s a chaplain first, emphasizing his people-first mentality.\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA chaplain is there for all individuals, all individuals from all walks of life,\u201d said Bridges. \u201cEven when they see the crescent moon on my uniform, they know that I’m going to be there for them. Regardless of their views, faith tradition, worldview, I’m a chaplain for them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While Bridges hopes to carry on a military legacy of caring for people, his path wasn\u2019t initially aimed at military chaplaincy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He began seminary, a college that prepares students to become religious leaders, in 2015 with a concentration in Islamic studies. As Bridges neared graduation, a significant event altered his trajectory as his career in law enforcement and his education collided.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While working on a security detail near Florida International University, a pedestrian bridge collapsed. Bridges noted how the police chaplain responded to the accident and aided the families and friends of those affected.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey just had a moment of silence and it was at that particular moment when I realized that I wanted to be a chaplain,\u201d explained Bridges. \u201cI called my academic advisor and asked if I could change my concentration from Islamic studies to a master\u2019s in divinity with a concentration on Islamic chaplaincy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Bridges was a bit surprised by what he learned when he entered clinical pastoral education, a program sponsored by Johns Hopkins Hospital and held at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Maryland. He thought that the program would be all about the tools and resources he would need as a chaplain. Instead, the focus of the program was on self-reflection, something essential for religious work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat reflection with self during difficult times or times that I perceive as to be the best of times, [allows me to] do that with others when they are experiencing trials, tribulations, and different circumstances in their lives,\u201d said Bridges. \u201cNot to give them the answers, but to be a person that journeys with them through it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Article by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Sarah M. McClanahan, Maryland National Guard Public Affairs Office Photos by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Sarah M. McClanahan, Maryland National Guard Public Affairs Office; Courtesy photos U.S. Army 1st Lt. Edrees Bridges was commissioned into the Maryland National Guard on August 19, 2021, making MDNG history as  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":7051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7050"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7063,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7050\/revisions\/7063"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}