United Methodist Chaplain (Capt.) Karen Meeker will receive the highest honor presented to clergy serving in the U.S. Army.
United
Methodist Chaplain (Capt.) Karen Meeker will receive the Military
Chaplain Association�s Distinguished Service Award for 2004 � the
highest honor presented to clergy serving in the U.S. Army on April 22
in St. Louis. She was selected for the honor by the chief of chaplains.
UMNS photo courtesy Chaplain Karen Meeker, photo number 04-172,
Accompanies UMNS 191, 4/21/04
United
Methodist Chaplain (Capt.) Karen Meeker will receive the Military
Chaplain Association’s Distinguished Service Award for 2004 — the
highest honor presented to clergy serving in the U.S. Army.
She
will be presented with the award April 22 at the annual National
Institute of the Military Chaplain Association, being held this year in
St. Louis. The Military Chaplains' Association is headquartered in
Washington and serves as the professional support organization for U.S.
military chaplaincy.
Each
year, the association presents distinguished service awards to the
outstanding chaplain selected by the chief of chaplains in each military
service. Meeker was chosen by the Army chief of chaplains.
The
winners are recognized leaders in chaplaincy and help set the standard
for excellence in their field, said David White, head of the
association.
Meeker
serves at Fort Bragg, N.C., and is the first female chaplain assigned
to the Army Special Operations Command. She is a master parachutist and
the only female chaplain jumpmaster. She is the first woman chaplain to
complete Pathfinder School.
Her
military awards include the Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf
Cluster, the Army Achievement Medal with 2 Oak Leaf clusters and the
Army Reserve Component Overseas Training Ribbon. Her foreign awards
include the German Armed Forces Achievement Award (Bronze), German Jump
Wings and Korean Jump Wings.
Meeker
is a native of Pennsylvania and earned her master of divinity degree at
Harvard Divinity School. She began her ministry by working with a
start-up domestic mission project and serving as a pastor in Central
Pennsylvania. She is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church’s
Central Pennsylvania Annual (regional) Conference. She is endorsed as a
chaplain by the United Methodist Endorsing Agency at the churchwide
Board of Higher Education and Ministry in Nashville, Tenn.
*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer. News media can contact Kathy L. Gilbert at (615)742-5470 Nashville, Tenn. or E-mail: newsdesk@umcom.org.
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