Article February 9, 1998 Issue

SPIRITUAL SUPPORT IN THE MILITARY

An interview with Colonel Chaplain Janet Horton.

By Kim Shippey

Last July, Janet Horton, who has a master's degree in divinity from Boston University and twenty-one years of active service in the United States, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Republic of Korea, became the first woman to be appointed a full colonel chaplain in the U. S. Army. She is now ministering to about 38,000 military personnel, with ninetythree chaplains reporting to her.

We talked with her about some of the challenges—and joys—of her new assignment.

"Although women have been ministers for centuries, the idea of their serving in the U.S. military chaplaincy is still relatively new and somewhat emotionally charged," said Chaplain Horton. "It's struggling through some difficult stages of evolution. The numbers remain small, and the ability of the military to retain many of these chaplains appears questionable. What I've experienced could be called the birth of a idea—the struggle of women to bring new life to the chaplaincy, journeying for the most part on uncharted seas."

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

SPIRITUAL SUPPORT IN THE MILITARY

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access