Ep. 15 | Tara Bauer: The Meaning of Relationship

To introduce our guest, Tara Bauer, I need to do a little quick nerding out. If you were to click around Plymouth’s website to the Clergy and Staff page, you’d see that Tara is listed as a Covenant Partner. If you’re not a seminarian you’d be excused for not knowing what that means, but it’s rooted in how the United Church of Christ thinks about sending people out into the world to do ministry. Unlike some denominations, the UCC assigns ordination status through a local church body. So even for chaplains like Tara, who has served as an Air Force chaplain since her pastoral residency at Plymouth from 2011-2013, a covenanted relationship with a local church is required to stay in good standing with the denomination. But the huge importance of covenant in our church and in our denomination is a topic for another day. For now, let’s dive into my conversation with Tara and the meaning she finds in military chaplaincy.