GFAFB welcomes area clergy Published Oct. 23, 2008 By 011008 GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- The Grand Forks Air Force Base wing chaplain, Lt. Col. John Kinney, on behalf of Col. John Michel, the 319th Air Refueling Wing commander, is inviting local clergy in the greater Grand Forks area to attend the first Fall Interfaith Leadership Summit scheduled for Oct. 28 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Prairie Rose Chapel on Grand Forks AFB. The guest speaker, Dr. H. B. London, Jr., from Focus on the Family will speak at 12:30 p.m. in the Northern Lights Club here and all members of the base and local communities are welcomed to attend. Dr. London is a fourth generation minister and will present attendees with several ministry resources to enhance ministry programs. The summit provides members of the community and local clergy an opportunity to visit Grand Forks AFB and is designed to welcome the community to share in the Air Force mission, describe the transformation of the base's operations and is a forum to introduce a new base initiative, the honorary chaplain program. In this new program, local clergy are invited to help enhance relationships between community faith leaders and military members here. The goal is to pair an honorary chaplain with units within the wing to encourage healthy dialogue between representatives of various faith traditions and enable opportunities for spiritual growth among military members and civilians. "Friends can only become friends when they know each other," said Chaplain Kinney. "There are many great people in and around Grand Forks. The special advantages the military and their families bring will broaden the bonds of friendship and enrich lives. We're very excited about this new program, and we know it will be a great success based on the success of our existing honorary commander program." For more information or to attend the summit, call the base chapel at 701-747-5673.