The Sabbath afternoon on April 26, 2025 was filled with joy, prayer, and words of celebration. United States Navy Lieutenant chaplain, Nephtali Ortega Gauthier was ordained to the gospel ministry at the El Cajon Seventh-day Adventist Church. Southeastern California Conference’s (SECC) Ministerial department conducted an official ordination service along with the North American Division (NAD). 

Surrounded by his family and friends, the church gathered in recognition of Ortega’s ordination. Chaplain Ortega is the first Navy chaplain within our conference territory to be ordained during military service under the NAD’s Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries (ACM).  

Ortega’s introduction into ministry began in 2010 while a student in a military chaplaincy class. “The professor’s words reflected my own life experiences so clearly that I knew God was calling me to serve in a unique way,” Ortega recounted. Stepping into traditional pastoral ministry beginning in 2011, he served as a Bible worker, youth, associate, and district pastor at several churches in Puerto Rico.  

However, Ortega sensed God was tugging towards another area of ministry. The idea of military chaplaincy was not just another role—it was a calling within a calling. Through much prayer and confirmation, in 2018, Ortega joined the U.S. Navy as a chaplain candidate before entering active duty as chaplain in 2022 through ACM.  

Serving in uniform has taken Ortega to places he never expected both physically and spiritually. “It’s in those places that God met me, stretched me, and called me deeper into ministry,” he shared. Ministry has been redefined in Ortega’s context. While serving aboard the USS Comstock (LSD 45) and with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, ministry happened on the mess decks, in engine rooms, and during midwatch conversations while floating on the seas. “In that confined, floating world, I saw how deeply people long for meaning, connection, and hope, and how powerful it is when a chaplain shows up, listens without judgment, and reminds them they’re not alone.” Ortega carries this sentiment everywhere he goes. 

Ortega’s journey reflects the powerful ways that God can be experienced outside of the church walls. Equally, he has been shaped and transformed through the church community and comrades he serves. Ortega’s remarks, based on Isaiah 6:8, during his ordination service summarize his journey well, “May everything I do in ministry be for His glory, by His grace. Here I am, oh Lord, send me.” 

Congratulations to Chaplain Ortega on his ordination! 

1. Ortega’s family takes a photo during his ordination service.  ↩︎
2. Prayer of ordination over Ortega and his family.  ↩︎
3. Ortega and his students in Puerto Rico.  ↩︎