As Samford University continues to honor the 250th anniversary of America’s founding, we continue a series highlighting alumni of Beeson Divinity School who serve their country in the field of military chaplaincy.
Cmdr. Kaelan Clay
U.S. Navy, Command Chaplain, USS Bataan
Clay, MDiv ’08, was serving on staff at a church in Toledo, Ohio, when he began taking courses at a local seminary. He quickly realized he wanted a full-time seminary experience.
“I fell in love with Beeson,” Clay said. “Beeson’s classic evangelical spirit, dedication to studying the Holy Scriptures and interdenominational community helped prepare me to minister to service members of all walks of life in the military.”
Each day looks a bit different on a Navy ship, guided by the mission. He regularly leads prayer and Bible studies, as well as counseling service members and attending meetings as needed.
He expanded his ministry reach by planning Socratic-led forums, aimed at helping sailors think through meaningful topics. Recently, more than 60 attended a forum on “healing as a pathway to confident leadership.” Forum topics range in size but almost always provide an opportunity to share from a Christian perspective, Clay said.
Clay attends a range of meetings to help plan the effective integration of his team and to better engage and advise staff and leadership.
The work of ministering the Gospel in the midst of suffering and vulnerability has always appealed to Clay. Aboard the USS Bataan, the flagship of their Amphibious Readiness Group, he serves as chaplain to the 2,300 personnel and supports other religious ministry teams on other ships that deploy within the group.
Clay has deployed six times, serving as a chaplain, with Marine Reconnaissance, Special Operations, Royal Marines, Royal Navy and a variety of U.S. Navy commands.
“Chaplaincy has been a humbling, rich and rewarding experience,” Clay said.
It can sometimes feel like a wilderness, a longing for the sacred, but it has shaped his identity and ministry for the better, he said.
His mentor, former Beeson professor Lyle Dorsett, told Clay, “Brother, you’re to bring the sacred to them,” Clay said chaplaincy forced him to preach in the pulpit, “but also in the passageways.”
In November, Clay and his family will move to Annapolis, Maryland, where he will serve as the deputy chaplain at the U.S. Naval Academy. He will minister to 4,500 midshipmen, 500 faculty and many associated families and affiliates. Clay will lead a 15-member Chaplain Center team, minister in chapel services and teach a course on virtue and the profession of arms.