Longtime chaplain provides AEDC pastoral ministry

  • Published
  • By Shawn Jacobs
  • AEDC/PA
Martin Nutter, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve who has been attached to Arnold AFB for 24 years, prefers to be called "chaplain" as opposed to his rank. He also goes by "Marty."

From baptisms to weddings and funerals, Nutter said he counts it an honor to serve "the Lord, the service men and women here at Arnold and just minister to Team AEDC [Arnold Engineering Development Center]." He conducts seasonal worship services on Ash Wednesday, an Easter sunrise service at the Arnold Lakeside Center and Thanksgiving and Christmas services in the base chapel located on the first floor of the Administration and Engineering (A&E) Building. Sunday morning worship services aren't held in the chapel because Nutter's full-time job is as pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Tullahoma.

Nutter has been a chaplain at Arnold since he accepted the call to pastor Faith Lutheran in 1988. An Oak Ridge native, Nutter came to Arnold from Altus, Okla., where he was also chaplain at Altus AFB. He said a number of responsibilities rest on the shoulders of the base chaplain.

"Primarily to provide a ministry of presence to the military personnel first and foremost, and I realize that we only have a small contingency of 'blue-suiters' here - about 55 or 60 - but I also have the unique opportunity to interface with DOD [Department of Defense], ATA [Aerospace Testing Alliance] and provide a ministry of presence to the entire Arnold community," he said. "To provide Bible studies and to provide for the religious expression of all personnel assigned here at Arnold - just to allow that to happen.

"The chapel that we have here is open 24/7, and that's by design so that anybody can come in at the end of a work day for quiet time, reflective time. We do have about six Bible studies scattered throughout the base in any given week."

Nutter visits different work areas on base, as well as making hospital visits and participating, upon the commander's request, at retirement and promotion ceremonies. He also is part of a team that travels to provide military death notifications for the entire state of Tennessee, northern Alabama, northern Georgia, northwest South Carolina, western North Carolina and southern Kentucky.

Counseling is another aspect of Nutter's ministry.

"There is quite a bit of counseling, actually," Nutter said. "I think oftentimes an individual will seek the chaplain even though they might have their own church or pastor. They might want to go elsewhere rather than their own church or pastor."

Even though Nutter is a Christian, he has to minister to a variety of faiths and provide an opportunity for their free and open expression.

"That has been very difficult for me because I respect and realize that, at least in the chaplaincy, I live in a pluralistic setting," he said. "Yes, I am a Christian and I cannot just come with all the trappings and so forth of a Christian pastor solely. To allow for the full expression of all faiths is imperative by the chaplain, and that is something that needs to be underlined. In the chaplaincy, that does not mean, however, that I have to shove Christianity or Jesus Christ in a closet.

"I think the key here is to be respectful and not to go off like a loose cannon, and I think each chaplain should judge each situation, each occasion, that he is called upon to be involved in ministry. At the same time, to provide for expressions of all faiths or no faith ... to provide for that expression to be provided or to help in securing resources [such as] giving guidance to where the nearest synagogue might be."

As chaplain, Nutter is required to be on base 12 days a year plus a two week annual tour.

"So 24 days, but I probably end up coming here about four times a month," he said. "If I'm needed or if there's counseling or something, I'll come in because I'm only 12-15 minutes away."

He said the base Commander Col. Michael Brewer or AEDC Chief of Staff Kenneth Jacobsen can readily contact him to come in for any purpose.

Nutter said there are similarities and differences between pastoring a church and the chaplaincy at an Air Force Base, but both activities are fulfilling.

"Certainly the area of pastoral care and counseling is the same, regardless of whether I'm in the pastoral setting in the church or the chaplaincy here at Arnold," he said. "I'm very much a people person. There are probably those who I minister to in Tullahoma that I see more on a week-to-week or day-to-day basis and other settings as well, Bible study or worship or so forth. Here it's establishing new friendships, providing pastoral care, and with the turnover in the military, it's an opportunity to be used by the Lord to be involved in the lives of many people."