First Church of God Husband and Wife Commissioned as Chaplains
By Dr. Jerry McNabb, Assistant Director, Chaplains Commission
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Major Jimmy and Patricia Nichols |
Little did Patricia Nichols realize that when she became an Army Chaplains wife that God would latter place this same calling on her life. Patricia is also the mother of four boys and has always played a big role in the Army chapel community as well as being active in the local Church of God. Add to this her involvement with the spouses and a chaplain husband, Major Jimmy Nichols, who has been deployed twice to Iraq and you have a schedule that has very little free time. Yet, because this calling to be a military chaplain increased with each passing day in her life, Patricia decided to enroll in Seminary and be commissioned as an Army Chaplain Candidate. Commuting each week from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to Cleveland, Tennessee, she began the long road of finishing a Master’s of Divinity degree at the Church of God Theological Seminary. Last year Patricia graduated with honors from both the Seminary and the Army Chaplains Basic Course School. This summer she will make history as being a part of the first ever husband and wife Church of God active duty military chaplains. Patricia will become the third active duty woman chaplain serving the Church as a commissioned officer in the United States Army.
Patricia and her husband presently reside at Fort Benning, Georgia, where Chaplain Jimmy Nichols is completing the Army’s year long Family Life Training Program. Both have been assigned to duty stations in Germany and will relocate to Heidelberg this summer. This assignment is also another confirmation of God’s will in her life in that her sister, Valerie and her husband, Church of God Chaplain (Captain) Neal Durham, are already stationed in Baumholder, Germany. With the arrival of the Nichol’s there will be a total of eight Church of God chaplains serving in Germany. If you would like more information about Chaplaincy Ministry Programs, contact the Chaplains Commission at: www.cogchaplains.com.
