Photo By Janecze Wright | Lee Stockland, director of Fort Hood Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and...... read more read more
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FORT HOOD, Texas -- More than 100 religious leaders gathered for the Community Religious Leader’s Symposium April 19 at the Spirit of Fort Hood Chapel.
The event was organized by the Fort Hood Religious Support Office to gather civilian religious leaders from the greater Fort Hood area and equip them with information about the services provided on post.
Chaplain (Col.) Darren Chester, Garrison chaplain, explained that he wanted to help the group educate their congregations and organizations from a more knowledgeable standpoint about what the Army offers.
“We just want to equip them with tools that they can use in their ministry,” he said. “We tend to forget about and neglect the importance of these groups of people that come together and form institutions. That’s what these folks represent, those very important organizations that are truly the glue that holds society together. So, we just want to say thank you to them because they do provide such a great service to the Fort Hood community.”
Representatives from various Fort Hood organizations were on hand to share information, provide religious leaders with tools to impart ministry to military families, have an opportunity to fellowship and network with other religious leaders and share ideas for serving the greater Fort Hood Community.
Col. Chad R. Foster, U.S. Army Garrison-Fort Hood commander, addressed the audience and conveyed that the services religious leaders provide are invaluable to the Fort Hood community.
“It’s really important to a Soldier and many of our Soldiers need that. They need you. They need services that you provide,” he expressed. “Not all say that they need some element of faith to keep them going and help do the heavy lifting it takes to be a U.S. Army Soldier, but everybody needs something. Maybe that’s not necessarily a church, maybe it’s something else. But something always links back to the spiritual aspect first.
“Communities bring together a diverse set of perspectives. A diverse set of experiences, a diverse set of views on things and immersive skills,” Foster continued. “But the one thing that unites us, and this is important, we’re united by a common set of values and dignity. We value safety, security of our country. We value our personal freedoms. Part of that freedom is the right to worship how you see fit.”
Statistics support the importance of faith in the lives of many servicemembers and their families. Seventy-five percent of Soldiers indicate some sort of religious preference, 56 percent identify as an adherent of the Christian faith (17 percent Catholic, 49 percent protestant), and nine percent identify as another religion. Fort Hood averages 650 worshippers per week at chapel services.
Foster urged attendees to pay close attention to each of the speakers because they provide good context for what is available for Soldiers.
“You can help us in a lot of different ways by learning about these services,” he said. “Or, if you have military family in your congregation that’s experiencing a difficulty, you can suggest to them somewhere they could go get connected with resources and assistance. I think that’s the biggest thing you could probably do for us today.”
Foster concluded with a declaration about the upcoming redesignation to Fort Cavazos.
“We throw around the word hero sometimes a little bit too loosely,” he expressed. “When I say that General Richard Cavazos was a hero, I’m not exaggerating.”
Foster noted that Cavazos earned two Distinguished Service Crosses, was the first Hispanic American to be promoted to the rank of four-star general and served as the commanding general of III Corps.
Lee Stockland, director of Fort Hood Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security, took time to address the attendees.
“We have some awesome Soldiers in the Army, a great generation coming up behind us,” he said. “The only reason I do this is because of Soldiers. We are here to take care of the Soldiers so that they can do what they do on the battlefield for us.”
Participants heard from several other representatives from Fort Hood organizations to include Army Community Service, Family Advocacy and Behavioral Health.
Chester hopes the event can develop long-lasting relationships.
“Hopefully these people are meeting one another while they’re here. That’s going to be strengthening the network of our communities as well,” he said. “To minister to the greater community as well as to have an impact on the lives of Soldiers and family members is the goal.”
| Date Taken: | 05.04.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 06.23.2023 10:22 |
| Story ID: | 447426 |
| Location: | FORT CAVAZOS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 29 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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