Selfridge first to train Reserve chaplain

  • Published
  • By Eric Brian
  • 927th ARW
SELFRIDGE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, MICH. --  The 927th Air Refueling Wing made history when it became the first Air Force Reserve unit to train a chaplain candidate, according to the Air Force Reserve Command Chaplain Service.

Chap. (2nd Lt.) Joshua Stoley, 25, completed his Master of Divinity at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary in December and has finished all the requirements to be an Air Force chaplain except for ordination. Lieutenant Stoley plans to be ordained through his local church in the early spring and reappointed by the Air Force as a reserve chaplain.
Chap. (Maj.) Douglas DeWitt, 927th ARW chaplain, said he will bring Lieutenant Stoley aboard as the wing’s third chaplain, in addition to himself and Chap. (Capt.) Steven Woodford. The slot came open when Chap. (1st Lt.) Kenny Walden transferred to March Air Reserve Base.

Technically, all chaplain candidates are reservists; they usually do their training with active duty commands, said Chap. (Col. select) Philip Miller, AFRC Chaplain Service chief of plans and programs. He said Lieutenant Stoley is the first chaplain candidate to be attached to a reserve wing.

“We’re proud of Josh,” said Chaplain Miller. “We’re really appreciative of Chaplain DeWitt for taking him while he was still in school, grooming him, and providing him a good place to train.”
“It just worked out for me to come here,” said Lieutenant Stoley. “This is a perfect fit for me, too.”

Chaplains receive direct commissions, much like doctors and lawyers. Lieutenant Stoley was commissioned in February 2003. He completed Commissioned Officer Training that June at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., and has since completed additional training, including a two-week Chaplain introductory course and two 35-day tours at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., and Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
Lieutenant Stoley said he began his chaplain candidate program early – before seminary, and needed to complete 35 drill points.

“Since I was living in Michigan and I knew there is a reserve wing here, I requested that I be able to do those points here,” he said. “Now, they’re pretty excited about the prospect of letting other chaplain candidates train with reserve units.”

“We hope it works,” Chaplain DeWitt said. “The Air Staff is watching everything we do.”
Lieutenant Stoley gave the invocation for the Wing Commander’s Change of Command Oct. 30, while he was a chaplain candidate.
“He was not nervous,” Chaplain DeWitt said. “He stepped right up.”
At age 25, Lieutenant Stoley was one of the youngest to ever come in to the chaplain candidate program, said Chaplain Miller.

Lieutenant Stoley, who is married with two children, hopes to become an active duty chaplain. To do so, the Air Force requires him to complete two years experience as a civilian minister.

“Almost all Air Force chaplains start in the Reserve,” Chaplain Miller said. “More than half go active, but before they’re on active duty they must do a couple years of civilian ministry.”

Lieutenant Stoley is already working on those requirements.
“I’m teaching Bible and theology and fill in preaching at a small church in Haslett, Mich.,” he said. “The ministry isn’t full-time yet, it’s volunteer. I’m hoping it will be soon. I have my resume in with my denomination to find me a full-time position.”

Also, to make ends meet, Lieutenant Stoley is working full time for a painting company in Lansing and continues to drill as a reservist.