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Mystery of Hymnals in Iraq Solved?

CHICAGO, IL (April 6, 2005) - The mystery of how Evangelical Covenant Church hymnals came to be used in a military chapel in Baghdad has largely been solved.

A military chaplain associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church but with strong ties to the Covenant ordered the hymnals, he says, for a post he served in Germany. However, he was unsure how they made their way to Iraq. "We purchased the hymnals in the 1998-2000 timeframe from Covenant Bookstore," says Chaplain Dan Nagle.

Covenant News Service recently reported that two Covenant military chaplains were surprised when they discovered the denomination's hymnals being used in a chapel in Baghdad. Chaplains Mike Gillett and Ryan Sarenpa found the hymnals at the Camp Victory chapel, which is located in an outlying building of one of Saddam Hussein's palaces. No one was sure how they got there. They were stamped as "Property of U.S. Army Leighton Chapel." That chapel is located in Wurzburg, Germany.

Nagle was the chaplain for the U.S. Army's 67th Combat Support Hospital in Wurzburg - that support unit is now deployed in Iraq. "They might have taken some (hymnals) with them from Wurzburg," he says, noting that the "1st Infantry Division's headquarters is located next to Leighton Chapel, and they might have taken some to Iraq."

Nagle has a background in the Covenant. "I attended First Covenant Church in Jamestown, New York, during my high school and early college years," he says.  "Bob Anderson and Dave Lindfors had invited me to attend youth group events and worship with them. I later worked as a counselor at Mission Meadows and graduated from North Park College."

The breadth of selections in The Covenant Hymnal: A Worshipbook as well as its theological integrity made it an ideal choice, says Nagle. "We have many evangelical Christians in our military chapels and a fair sampling of old mainline types, like me. I thought the Covenant hymnal would be broad enough for all to feel like it was 'ours,' regardless of our roots."

"I found them (hymnals) to be a very good mix of the type of hymnody and worship support resources that we needed for the chapel Protestant congregation," he added. "They provided a depth of tradition and a fresh mix of some newer hymns that appealed to the broad mix of denominational traditions present in a military chapel congregation.  We also used Communion and other liturgical resources for the various seasons of the church."

Nagle currently serves on the faculty of the Department of Command, Leadership, and Management at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

(Editor's note: To read the original story on the Covenant hymnals discovered in Iraq, please see Hymnals.)  

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