ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — Normally the monthly Sunday afternoon get-togethers at Bethel Baptist Church on Highway 90 in Robertsdale are a quiet affair. Everyone brings a covered dish or two and there is fun and fellowship for all.

But last Sunday, Oct. 18, was a little different. The tables were festooned with red, white and blue. A retired Marine master sergeant was going to speak during the service before the meal, and there were more than a few somber faces in the crowd.

The congregation was preparing to say goodbye for now to their youth minister Jason Mann.

Mann is a first lieutenant with the 135th Expeditionary Sustained Command in the Army National Guard out of Homewood. He’s a quartermaster and his unit will be leaving Alabama for training on Oct. 29 at Fort Hood, Texas, and will be in Afghanistan, “Sometime by mid-December,” he said. His unit will be gone for 12 months. He’s been part of the National Guard for 13 years.

“I view this as doing my part,” said Mann.

Mann, who lives in Rosinton, will be leaving his wife, Denise and their four children, Abigail, 7, Macie, 5, Mikaya, 3, and Nathanael, 1, at home.

Mann says he was thinking of a career in the military all along, even went to a military college for a time, and graduated from the University of Alabama in Birmingham. But the call of family and church was strong as well. The compromise? Being a devout Christian and youth minister at Bethel and a position in the Army National Guard. He completed the officer’s basic course.

“I’ve been in the Guard for 13 years,” said Mann. “This is my first deployment.”

Mann does not see a lot of difference with his day-to-day role in the Guard and youth minister.

“You are mainly dealing with people,” he said. “A whole lot of it (being a quartermaster) is being a people person.”

While Mann is gone, his duties at Bethel Baptist will be taken up by Nick Foerster, a student at Faulkner State Community College.

“I think the program is in good hands,” said Mann.

The Bethel congregation tried to show through song and prayer that Mann would be in good Hands, too. Songs ranged from Mann’s favorite spiritual, to an a capella rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner.”

The Mann family sat in the front row of the church as the singing segued into a reading from the Song of Solomon, “The fire of love stops at nothing,” representing the love Mann has for his country and the love the congregation has for him.

The Rev. Mitch Nelson, pastor of Bethel Baptist presented the couple with prayer shawls from the church.

A lighter moment was provided when a funny video prepared by a member of the youth group showing Mann in more candid moments leading the youth group. The entire congregation laughed as the video played.

“This is the coolness of everything you showed me,” said one young man. “You know we love you.”

Marine Master Sgt. Al Blakenship gave Mann his charge. A former platoon commander, Blakenship had seen service all over the world, including the Middle East.

“Trust in your warriors and your training,” Blakenship told Mann. “Most of all, trust in yourself.”

Mann spoke at the end of the service, before the congregation lined up to say good-bye.

“I always knew we had a wonderful church family,” he said.