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 and resiliency of the formation, leader development and building the next generation of chaplains, and impacting the command climate by working with commanders and command sergeants major at every echelon of Army organizations.

Chaplain Jaedicke gave an interesting story on his background as an Army Combat Engineer — a role he wanted to stay in even when a chaplain encouraged him to join the ministry:

“On the inside I was thinking, ‘Are you kidding me? Are you serious?’ Not only no, but heck no! I wouldn’t get to carry my M16, and, besides that, when boys grow up playing with G.I. Joe actions figures, and this is very important, nobody wants to be the sailor … or the chaplain. Everybody wants to be the 11 bravo with the crew-served weapon or the scuba diver.

“But here I am. And there you are,” Jaedicke paused. “Somehow this stole got placed around my neck. The Bible reminds us, in Proverbs, Chapter 19, ‘Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails’.”

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