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Military Chaplaincy Program Consultant Named
July 21, 2008
President Marcus J. Miller announces that the Reverend George "Bud" Onstad will serve as the Chaplaincy Consultant of the newly formed Military Chaplaincy Program at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary.
In this role, Onstad will be responsible for developing the program which is scheduled to open in the 2009-10 academic year. The program intends to offer chaplaincy related courses for Master of Divinity students at the seminary, as well as advanced classes for chaplains stationed near the seminary and desiring further education. _web.JPG)
The formation of the Military Chaplaincy Program was announced following the spring 2008 meeting of the seminary's Board of Trustees. At that meeting, the seminary was awarded a grant by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Foundation funding for the development of the program. The program will coincide with the opening of the new Armed Forces Chaplaincy Center at Fort Jackson in Columbia, SC, where all of the military chaplains in three branches of the United States Armed Forces will be headquartered in the coming year.
Onstad's hiring will help further develop relationships with chaplains currently serving in the armed forces. After serving eight years in the infantry, he attended Southern Seminary and is a 1983 graduate. He then served as a parish pastor at Incarnation Lutheran in Columbia, SC, before spending 16 years as a chaplain in the United States Army.
After leaving the Army, Onstad was Assistant to the Bishop for Leadership in the Southeastern Synod, where he recently retired. He is excited to continue to put his experience in the Army and ministry together as he works to develop this new program.
