Last fall, US Army BGen Timothy Connelly transferred the stole of his command chaplain from outgoing Chaplain (Col) Charles “Chuck” Lynde to incoming Chaplain (Col) Charles Causey.
As has been discussed before, the changing of the stole appears to be a “tradition” largely only within the US Army. The passing of responsibility from one chaplain to Read more
As previously announced, on May 23rd Chaplain (LtCol) Khallid Shabazz took over as the Division Chaplain for the 7th Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis McChord:
Shabazz…became the Army’s first Islamic chaplain at the division level at a Change of Stole ceremony…officiated by Maj. Gen. Thomas James Jr., 7th Infantry Division commanding general.
The “changing of the stole” appears to be strictly a US Army chaplaincy tradition, as Read more
Gen Stephen Twitty, commanding General of the US Army’s 1st Armored Division, recently participated in a ceremony marking the “passing of the stole” from one Chaplain to another:
The 1st Armored Division sent off Lt. Col. Karen L. Meeker, outgoing 1st Armored Division chaplain and welcomed Lt. Col. Thomas S. Helms III as the new 1st AD chaplain during the Division’s Passing of the Stole ceremony here…
Helms assumed the spiritual leadership and pastoral care for the entire division when Maj. Gen. Stephen M. Twitty, 1st AD and Fort Bliss commanding general, removed the division stole from Meeker and placed it on Helms shoulders.
The 1AD is known as “Old Ironsides,” so its chaplain is the “Iron Shepherd.”
Chaplain Helms looked to Read more
In another “changing of the stole,” Chaplain (LtCol) Darryl Hollowell recently passed the “spiritual leadership” of the 7th Infantry Division to Chaplain (LtCol) Paul Jaedicke. The ceremony was overseen by the division’s commanding general, MajGen Stephen Lanza, who said:
a chaplain’s duties go far beyond that of providing spiritual leadership to soldiers and their families. They are involved in the readiness Read more
The head of the South Carolina Army National Guard Chaplain corps transferred from Chaplain (Col) Steven Shugart to Chaplain (Col) Lawrence Dennis is a traditional “changing of the stole” ceremony:
The stole signifies the faithful execution of the spiritual mission of the Chaplain Corps…
Maj. Gen. Robert E. Livingston Jr., the adjutant general for South Carolina…called Shugart a “warrior’s chaplain.”
Both the outgoing and incoming lead State Chaplains had Read more