Photo By Staff Sgt. Joni King Jackson | El Paso community religious leaders socialize during the first Religious Leaders...... read more read more
Subscribe
FORT BLISS, Texas— Fort Bliss chaplains, religious affairs specialists, and El Paso religious community leaders gathered at 1st Armored Division Fellowship Hall for the first Religious Leaders Symposium, March 23.
The purpose of the meeting was to build relationships with local religious communities to promote a shared vision of cooperation to better support Fort Bliss Soldiers and their families and highlight the importance of spiritual life for overall well-being.
In the event of large-scale combat operations, these partnerships between Fort Bliss and El Paso religious leaders will be necessary for ensuring the
spiritual needs of Soldiers and their families who remain in the El Paso area are met.
In conversation with leaders, Senior Command Chaplain (Col.) Kevin Wainwright, Headquarters, Headquarters Company, Garrison, touched on the
importance of community outreach linking Fort Bliss and the churches for partnership.
“It comes down to readiness and building a relationship with the local community on an operational and strategic level that gives us a reserve capability in case 1st Armored Division is asked to do a large-scale mobilization,” said Wainwright.
He also emphasized the importance of Soldiers being aware of the many faith communities in the local area and services that are readily available.
Wainwright began efforts to build rapport with local religious leaders about a year ago with the goal of creating this symposium.
The guest speaker, Maj. Gen. James P. Isenhower III, commanding general of 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss, also spoke of the importance of
relationships between the Fort Bliss and El Paso community religious leaders and how it is imperative that each community maintain a strong bond.
Those in attendance represented a mosaic of many different faiths working to build the bridge between the El Paso community and Fort Bliss to help gain an understanding of resources.
“We had a good turnout, with many faith communities attending, and we are looking to expand so that this becomes a muscle-memory exercise,” Wainwright said.
The Fort Bliss religious affairs team will continue to build on the foundation the community set during this symposium and plans to hold future symposiums biannually to reinforce the relationship between the installation and El Paso.
| Date Taken: | 03.23.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 03.28.2023 08:55 |
| Story ID: | 441252 |
| Location: | EL PASO, TEXAS, US |
| Hometown: | EL PASO, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 35 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fort Bliss hosts first El Paso community religious affairs symposium, by SSG Joni King Jackson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
