WHITE, S.D.—Members of the First Baptist Church in the South Dakota town of White are remembering a former pastor who was killed in Afghanistan this week while serving as an Army chaplain.
The Rev. Dale Goetz served the South Dakota church from November 2000 to December 2003. He left the church to begin training for chaplain work in the military.
Vonnie Lucas, a church member who sometimes baby-sat for Goetz and his wife, said news of his death was devastating.
“He just had a heart for people,” she said. “He wanted people to follow the Lord.”
Parishioners at First Baptist, where about 55 worship each Sunday, are praying for Goetz’s family, Lucas said.
“This was still kind of their home church,” she said.
Goetz, 43, and four other Fort Carson, Colo., soldiers were killed Monday when their unit was attacked with an improvised bomb. Fort Carson is an Army post outside Colorado Springs.
Goetz was a captain with the 4th Infantry Division. He entered the Army in January 2000, was deployed to Iraq from November 2004 to September 2005 and had been in Afghanistan since July 25. Goetz’s wife and their three sons live in Colorado.
The family joined the High Country Baptist Church in Colorado Springs in July and were voted into membership Sunday, the day before Goetz was killed.
“He was definitely very passionate about his job, and the reason he became a chaplain is because he wanted to see soldiers trust in Jesus Christ,” said the Rev. Jason Parker at High Country Baptist.
