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Meet Our Alumni
Meet Rev. Doug Lee (MDiv '73)
Rev. Doug Lee (MDiv '73) has been a pastor, a church planter, and an Army Chaplain. He is a retired Brigadier General of the US Army Chaplain Corp. He is married to Nancy, his wife of 40 years, and has 4 children and 11 grandchildren.
Doug, how did you first get connected with Covenant Seminary?
The theme of my life is “Sovereign Surprises,” taken from Proverbs 16:9: “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” (This is actually the theme of any Christian life.) I grew up as a Christian in a Christian home, but I was introduced to Reformed theology while on my honeymoon in Switzerland. We went to L’Abri in 1969 for three months, with no understanding of what it was. All we knew was that it was cheap. (As an aside, Oz Guiness was there that summer.) That was an interesting time in our nation’s history: men landed on the moon, riots all over college campuses, and the ongoing war in Vietnam.
During our time there, we learned that Francis Schaeffer was part of this group called the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod. L’Abri is a place where every meal is intense and intentional: a lot of discussion and interaction. So understandably—after three months—we were asking some pretty hard questions about our theological perspectives. In those days, you could still find time to sit down with Dr. Schaeffer one-on-one. I remember my wife and I having a meeting with him in his bedroom study. We asked Schaeffer where we should go to seminary and he listed three places—top of which was Covenant Seminary. At the same time, there was another man at L’Abri who was on staff, and who regularly spoke in chapel. I was so impressed with his ability to preach the Word that I asked him, “Where did you learn to preach like that?” He said, “Covenant Seminary.” After that, there was no question in our minds as to where to study.
Which professors had the greatest impact on you?
My wife and I went to Covenant for the one-year Master's program. But, due to the prerequisites, I soon discovered I might as well become an MDiv student, and every class was a new revelation or thought about theology. Honestly, I don’t recall one professor standing out above the others. Some of the men I studied under were George Knight, Bob Reymond, Robert Rayburn, Joe Hall, Harold Mare, and Wilber Wallis. I was impressed with their humility and knowledge. But what impressed me most—as I grew in my faith—was that all of these men had to be pastors before they could be teachers and professors.
When and how did you get connected with the military?
My second pastoral call was in Seattle, Washington. Steve Leonard (MDiv ‘ 74), Dr. Robert Rayburn’s son-in-law, moved to Seattle the same month I did. He had been a Vietnam soldier who became a chaplain. Steve was a pastor in the Army Reserve—and our lives overlapped in a lot of ways: presbytery, our families, and so forth. He encouraged me to consider reserve chaplaincy as a way to engage the community—something I wanted to do. I didn’t think the military was a possibility because in college I had been rejected from ROTC due to back problems. But—sovereign surprise!—I was able to join the National Guard as an Army Guard Chaplain.
How did you end up “active duty”?
The Christian life is all about adventure—and, if you are seeking to please the Lord, it’s going to be high adventure. Four years after I planted a church in Minneapolis, I received a phone call from the army. There was an opening in a particular program, and they asked if I would consider active duty. This was a major career change: do I stay with the church that I planted in my hometown—near to our family and dear friends—or do I join the army? After prayer, we decided to accept the call into the military. I’ve had more adventure than I could have imagined.
Finally Doug, we are a nation at war—in Afghanistan and Iraq to name a few. What are some insights from the military that can be an encouragement to others?
First of all, the military is a cross-section of America and a chaplain’s world is an expanded world. You have a military that is more inclusive than most people experience in their lives. You have a tremendous number of patriots and Christians—but you also have a lot of people trying to escape poverty, or get out of difficult circumstances of all kinds. So there are a lot of unchurched.
Second, when this group comes together, they really do bond and military chaplains have a respect and recognition that is very unusual. (Clergy used to have that respect in generations past.) When you are a chaplain, evangelism comes to you. A chaplain who is busily doing “ministry of presence” as we call it—going to staff meetings, visiting the motor pool, at the shooting range—will have an automatic audience that respects you. In the military, a lot of people will quickly go to the chaplain when they have difficulties. There is an openness to the clergy which is remarkable. The military is full of Kingdom opportunity to evangelize.
Third, military chaplains have complete liberty to proclaim the gospel when they serve in an ecclesiastical function, i.e., preach, teach, pray, counsel, etc. The field truly is “white unto harvest!”