GILROY
– Dennis Nichols’ office at South Valley Community Church is as
peaceful as can be. The setting sun’s rays find their way through
the window, softly lighting the room, and soft, soothing music is
playing in the background. The room is filled with shelves of books
related to the word of God.
GILROY – Dennis Nichols’ office at South Valley Community Church is as peaceful as can be. The setting sun’s rays find their way through the window, softly lighting the room, and soft, soothing music is playing in the background. The room is filled with shelves of books related to the word of God.
It is everything one would expect to see in the office of the associate pastor of a church, except for one detail. In the corner of his office, just to the right of his desk, is a framed picture of military personnel performing rescue procedures, jumping from helicopters from the 129th Rescue Wing, with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.
“That’s the best example of what we do,” said Nichols, who not only is associate pastor at South Valley, but a chaplain for the California Air National Guard. “We rescue in peacetime or wartime, civilian or Department of Defense.”
Most of the time, Nichols spends his days at South Valley, a non-denominational church located at 8095 Kelton Drive, overseeing all of the ministries of the church, teaching on Sunday, acting as elder liaison for 350 students at Pacific West Christian Academy and speaking during mass on occasion. But the phone can ring at anytime, meaning Nichols has to leave to go on duty.
“Sometimes I have to go on short notice,” he said. “When I’m gone, everyone has to work a little extra.”
South Valley Community Church was honored in October for their support of Nichols by the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve. South Valley’s Founding Pastor Eric Smith was presented with a certificate for giving people like Nichols the opportunity to serve their country while working in the community.
“I couldn’t do it without my family’s support, and I couldn’t do it without my pastorship,” Nichols said. “I put this uniform on and wear this cross on their behalf.”
Nichols has been deployed to France, Germany, Central America, Canada and the eastern part of the Ukraine.
“The call and demand is higher now for reserves,” said Nichols, who said the reserves used to be thought of as “weekend warriors” who joined the reserves to make a little money on the side. “Now when you put the uniform on, you have to be worldwide deployable.”
During Nichols’ deployments abroad, he saw what he thought were many discouraging signs of faith, including seeing the poverty and despair of post-communism in the Ukraine, an atheist country where Ukrainians didn’t understand what a chaplain was. He also was shocked by the lack of attendance of churches in France and Germany.
“The churches of Europe are beautiful, but they’re empty,” he said. “That was saddening to me.”
Nichols grew up in San Jose and was raised in the church, serving as an altar boy at the Church of God, the same church he where he was later married.
“When I was 7, they used to pat me on the head and say, ‘You’re going to be a pastor,'” he remembers. “I hated it.”
At the time, Nichols wanted no part of being a pastor, fearing the idea of being up in front of hundreds of people.
“It scared me,” he said. “It’s kinda the humor of God that I’m here now.”
Nichols military aspirations began 17 years ago, when he was working on a master’s degree in Biblical studies. As he was walking around campus, he ran into an Air Force recruiter looking for chaplains.
Nichols was intrigued by the idea, but was told he would have to change his degree to a master of divinity degree, which is the standard degree needed to for most mainline denominations and to become a chaplain for hospitals, prisons and the military.
Nichols decided he would go for it, even though it would mean spending more time in school. He came home and told his wife of seven years that he was joining the Air Force.
“It just about knocked her through the roof,” he said.
In 1985, Nichols was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. and a chaplain candidate.
“I thought, ‘I need a summer job anyway,’ ” he said.
Soon Nichols was assigned to the 129th Rescue Wing, where he has served ever since. His duties include counseling, funerals and weddings, or what he calls a ministry of the present.
“Our job is to be with the troops with the ebb and flow of life,” he said.
Although Nichols’ faith is Protestant evangelical, he said his job is to provide for the free expression of all faiths when acting as chaplain.
“We live in a free country, and the freedom of religious expression is what this nation stands for,” he said.
After earning his degree, Nichols was contacted by old friend Bryce Jessup, the pastor who married him and his wife. Jessup, who had become the president of Jan Jose Christian Academy, wanted Nichols to come teach.
“He said, ‘We have an opening here. Why don’t you come and work for us?'” Nichols remembers. “Going there really answered my prayers.”
Nichols spent 13 years teaching freshman to upper division Bible classes at San Jose Christian College, and 10 of those years also acting as Dean of Students.
“I loved every minute of it,” Nichols said. “Being able to touch people at a crossroads in their lives was very rewarding.”
In 1998, Nichols began working part-time for South Valley Community Church in Gilroy before making the move to full-time. He said if there was one thing he could change about trying to balance his two careers, it would be having an idea of when he would be sent out on missions.
“It’s unpredictable. I never know when I’m going to be called,” he said. “But it’s part of the adventure and mystery.”
