Fort Leavenworth celebrates Chaplain Corps 250 years of service

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kansas — Community members gathered for a luncheon celebration to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps July 29, 2025, at Frontier Chapel at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The event included religious support team prayers, a cake-cutting ceremony and socialization time with old and new members of the chapel community.

“We realize that the Chaplain Corps is made up of a lot of chaplains, but it is not just chaplains, rather, it is a family of a whole lot of different people,” Fort Leavenworth Garrison Chaplain (Maj.) Eric Bryan told those gathered for the occasion.

During the opening remarks, audience members learned about the history of the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps, including that the Chaplain Corps shares a birthday with the Judge Advocate General's Corps. Both corps were established on July 29, 1775.

Pfc. Gabriel McBride, religious affairs specialist, and Chaplain (Col.) Seth George, senior command chaplain for the Combined Arms Center, cut a cake to celebrate the corps’ anniversary.

Showing the various members who support the Chaplain Corps, Bryan invited Religious Support Office employees, chapel volunteers and chaplains’ family members to share their prayers for the chapel with the audience.

“I'm really inspired by Thomas Martin,” Syeeda Echols, director of Religious Education, shared in her prayer. “He says ‘Let us be led by your light not our illusions, your love God, not our pride.’ So, my prayer for the future of the Chaplain Corps would be that we would, with humility and with grace, love one another and continue to support our soldiers and all their families.”

Other prayer intentions included a focus on strengthening ministries.

“My prayer for the Chaplain Corps would be that it would be a vessel of peace and grace to all that come to it, and that those working in this ministry would be fulfilled and strengthened by God's mercy,” shared John Bryan, 17-year-old son of Chaplain Bryan.

A crest made for the Chaplain Corps’ anniversary hung prominently at the luncheon. The crest reads “250 Years of Sacred Service” and displays the Chaplain Corps motto, “Pro Deo Et Patria,” which translates to “For God and Country.”

Chaplains at the celebration stressed the belief that the Chaplain Corps thrives because of those who support it through volunteering, ministry and other means.

“The chapel for 250 years is really something of a platform for ministry, or a sub-structure for ministry to happen, and all of you are a part of that,” George said. “You contribute to that in various ways and various means, and so it enables us to do what we do to the best of our ability. We appreciate the contributions, we appreciate the prayers, we appreciate the helping hands that put on events like this.”