With a congregation full of active and retired servicemembers every Sunday, Rev. Bonnie Chandler-Warren is no stranger to the challenges each family faces throughout a career in the armed forces.

But that's not to say she can't use more avenues to better embrace and support her military parishioners.

Chandler-Warren, who's been the head pastor at The United Methodist Church at Lakewood for the last four years, was one of nearly 20 local church leaders who gathered at the church March 25 for a seminar aimed at helping the local faith community better embrace its servicemembers.

Guest speakers touched on everything from a brief introduction on military culture to the effects of traumatic brain injuries and exploring how local faith communities can help servicemembers.

The event was co-sponsored by The Washington Association of Churches, the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs and several other local churches and support agencies.

This was the fifth workshop of its kind hosted in western Washington over the past few months, said Katy Lloyd, a member of the United Church of Christ who helped work with the VA to set up the seminars.

"(The VA) really sees the value of faith communities offering their support to veterans," Lloyd said. "It's meant to help the helpers, and people are finding so much value in it."

The opening presentation by Capt. Kelly Hansen, a chaplain with the Washington National Guard, helped paint a better picture for Chandler-Warren and others what some troops go through on deployments and how their life can change in an instant.

"The decisions you have to make in the military field and the war front is so different from everyday (life), and you have to live with that consequence," Chandler-Warren said. "That was an eye-opener."

Those experiences, Hansen said, can make life back at home difficult for some servicemembers when it comes time to integrate back into daily life. Churches can provide another level of support to help with the transition.

"(The servicemember's) needs cannot be met by the VA alone," Hansen told church leaders. "That's where all of you become very important. It's not enough to send our young men and women to the VA."

While most church leaders in attendance were familiar with some aspects of military life, they were unaware of some of the many different deployment stressors and the more in-depth details about post-traumatic stress disorder.

The bottom line is all just want to find out more how to help, attendees said.

"It creates a more emphatic environment for folks that have served," Lloyd said.

That's something that Chandler-Warren wants her church to continue to provide.

"Some (military families) don't put their bags down before they come to church," she said. "The reality of military life is that these people are away from home and the church can be like home. I think that's what they look for and I think that's what we're offering."