Articles

By Lieutenant Navy Pierrette LeDrew

When Padre Lloyd Clifton came to Canadian Forces Base (now 8 Wing) Trenton to catch the Boeing that would take him to his first posting in Comox, B.C. in January 1979, little did he know that his career would end there as well.

On October 12, 2006, after serving more than 27 years in the Canadian Forces, Major Padre Lloyd Clifton retired, at the place where it all began. Trenton is where he got his first taste of military life, and according to him, it is only fitting that his career should end here.

Padre Clifton joined the Canadian Forces (CF) in November 1978 as a Direct Entry Officer. Chaplains, then as now, were required to have a B.A., a three-year Masters of Divinity, and two years of ministry experience. During his time studying for the ministry, Padre Clifton "was committed to the ministry, but not necessarily to parish ministry. Parish work was a bit restrictive," he says.  He was unsure of the path to follow until his interest in the military chaplaincy was roused through his studies and summer work experiences.

His thesis focused on the work of Charles W. Gordon, who, among other things, had been a military chaplain during the First World War. He also worked with Jack Anderson, who had been a chaplain during the Second World War. It was then that he realized there was a whole other area of ministry available to him, and he explored it.

As luck would have it, he found out that there was an opening in the Canadian Forces for a Presbyterian minister. He applied, was accepted, and has served ever since.

The military has given Padre Clifton the opportunity to do the kind of varied work he was interested in from the start. He has enjoyed the inter-faith nature of CF ministry. He describes it as being "a down-to-earth, practical ministry," that offers very different dynamics from civilian ministries. For instance, civilian ministers don't usually visit their parishioners at their work place. In the CF, the workplace is part of the parish, in a way, and as a result, chaplains work closely with the units.

At the same time, there have been challenges. "Looking at the bigger picture, certainly for all the branch, the challenge has been meeting the pastoral needs of the member given the changes in the military." The make-up of the CF has changed a lot over the years, and the chaplaincy is a reflection of those changes.

When Padre Clifton joined the CF, the branch was "not significantly different from what it had been during the Second World War. Chaplains were male and Roman Catholic or Protestant." Protestant chaplains came from five denominations, and all others were excluded. Today, the branch functions as a unit and is much more inclusive than in years past. Padre Clifton feels that today's chaplaincy is much better trained than it was in the past to address the CF members' ecumenical needs, and he is visibly proud to have been a part of that for so many years. "It's been great that way," he says.

The highlight of his career came when he was deployed with Operation Kinetic (Canada's contribution to the NATO peacekeeping force that operated in Kosovo and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) in October 1999.  With the troops, he felt that he made a difference. It was also great to see how people in another part of the world live. It was an experience that left an indelible mark on him, one that he would not have had had he chosen a different career path.

Now, he looks forward to spending more time with his family, and plans to continue to fill in with numerous churches looking for service. Although he retires as the longest serving chaplain in the CF, he had not planned it that way. "It's been a blast, it's been a great career and I would do it all over again."