Wednesday Word from Chaplain Echols, May 1, 2024

As some of you may have seen in the Order of Worship for 5 May 2024, I am Chaplain (MAJ) Stephen Echols. I am an Active Duty US Army Chaplain and Episcopal Priest currently serving as the Ethics Instructor and Writer at the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Moore. You may be asking yourself at this point, “What do I call this guy?” which I assure you many others have asked, including Soldiers and parishioners alike. I’ve been called Chaplain, Chappy, Chaps, Sir, Padre, Father, Steve, and Stephen, all of which are fine. I simply ask that I not be addressed as “Hey you” or other much worse options.

That said, I’m delighted to be offered the opportunity to preach here at St. Thomas, in part because this is an opportunity for me to maintain an important pastoral skill as well as for St. Thomas to hear the Word proclaimed by somebody a bit different. You see, I am not a cradle Episcopalian. I actually started the process of becoming an Episcopal Priest in 2017, while I was deployed to Afghanistan for the second time. I came into the Army 18 years ago, and came on Active Duty 12+ years ago as a United Methodist Elder. Throughout my transitional years going back through the ordination process with the Episcopal Church (all while in Afghanistan, Washington, South Carolina, South Korea, and Massachusetts) – to include my eventual ordination as a Deacon and Priest in the Diocese of the Rio Grande – I have only grown to love the Episcopal Church more and more. It is the Episcopal Church that truly gave me and my family a church home.

That said, if you hit me up for conversation, I’ll talk to you about almost anything. Theology, ethics, Lego, science fiction, cycling, the Army, chaplaincy, whatever. I’m pretty much always game for good conversation. I look forward to getting to know St. Thomas more and more!

Grace and peace,
Chaplain Echols