Four female ministers - an Episcopalian, a Unitarian Universalist, a Southern Baptist and an African Methodist Episcopal

Female Chaplains Serve God and Country


Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Sherri Wheeler, the deputy chaplain for the Air National Guard.
It sounds like the start of a joke.
Four female ministers - an Episcopalian, a Unitarian Universalist, a Southern Baptist and an African Methodist Episcopal – all join the military ….
But there’s no punch line here, just four strong-willed pioneers working in a career field with few others of the female persuasion.
During women’s history month this year, these new chaplains at the National Guard Bureau are using their varied religious backgrounds to cater to the needs of Guard members.
Air Force Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Sherri Wheeler, Air Force Chap. (Maj.) Sarah Shirley, Air Force Chap. (1st Lt.) Janice Tubman-Pettigrew, and Army Chap. (Capt.) Rebekah Montgomery all have different stories on how they pinned on the chaplain’s badge.
Shirley, an Episcopalian minister, joined the military when she was 40 years old, the culmination of a lifelong dream that started, ironically enough, with her reaction to her fellow Vietnam War protestors.
“I was ashamed of how some of the antiwar activists had treated military members and treated veterans. It’s clear [service members] don’t make defense policy, we just carry it out.”
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