A pair of sisters ordained as Assemblies of God military chaplains reported for duty January 7 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
First Assembly of God in Humble, Tex., commissioned Army chaplains LeyAnne and Alison Ward on December 9. Scott McChrystal, AG chaplain military endorser, administered the oath of office to the new captains as Senior Pastor Milton Pool invited the congregation to extend their hands forth in prayer for the women.
“This is a landmark event,” McChrystal says. “LeyAnne and Alison have taken the necessary steps to become active-duty chaplains so that they can preach the gospel to thousands of soldiers during their military careers.”
The sisters thanked Pool and the congregation for supporting the women through the credentialing process.
“It was a matter of God’s timing, but at last my sister and I will be engaged in full-time ministry to our nation’s soldiers and their families,” LeyAnne says.
“The Assemblies of God is one of the few denominations that recognizes that God calls women into ministry,” Alison says.
There is an 18-month age difference between 28-year-old LeyAnne and 26-year-old Alison. The women both graduated from the University of Houston with English literature degrees, then in 2007 enrolled at Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, Texas.
While on campus, both received a call to Army chaplaincy and became chaplain candidates. Under an SAGU program, as seminary students the Wards became commissioned officers and pursued Army chaplaincy training in increments.
The women received their master’s in theological studies and master’s in divinity degrees from SAGU. After ordination by the South Texas District Council, the sisters began service as U.S. Army Reserve chaplains in 2010.
For more information about AG Chaplaincy, see its website at http://Chaplaincy.ag.org.
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