CHAPLAIN ALLIANCE FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY August 29, 2017 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact CHAPLAIN ENDORSERS at info@chaplainalliance.org or call (571) 293-2427
Chaplain Alliance ‘passes the torch’ of leadership
WASHINGTON — Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty passed the torch of leadership Monday night from Chaplain (COL) Ron Crews, USA (Retired), to Chaplain (COL) Phil Wright, USA (Retired).
Under Crews’ leadership, Chaplain Alliance became the go-to voice for numerous chaplains and service members who needed someone to speak up and defend their religious liberties, whether within the armed forces, in the media, or via friend-of-the-court briefs filed at the U.S. Supreme Court and in other courts. Among his accomplishments, Crews established numerous valuable relationships with members of Congress and the media, assisted in drafting legislation that became the “right of conscience” clause in the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, and testified before the House Armed Services Committee.
“It has been my honor, joy, and privilege to serve as the founding executive director of Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty,” Crews said. “The clear need for an organization to serve as a voice for chaplains and other service members in our armed forces who value and fight to defend constitutionally protected freedoms—including religious freedom—motivated me to take on this role. Because that need has never been greater, I am pleased to continue serving Chaplain Alliance as a member and to be leaving the executive director position in the more-than-capable hands of Chaplain Phil Wright.”
“I am humbled and honored to lead this organization, which Ron brought into existence by the grace of God six years ago,” said Wright, who has been a Chaplain Alliance member for several years. “Chaplain Alliance will continue its critical mission of helping our chaplains, those they serve, and our civilian and military decision-makers with integrity and faithfulness to our country’s spiritual heritage. I look forward to working hard, as Ron has, to preserve and protect the freedoms of those who put their lives on the line to defend those freedoms for all Americans.”
Wright is currently the director and endorser of chaplain ministries for the Evangelical Free Church of America. He began serving as a U.S. Army chaplain in 1987 and went on to complete numerous assignments with the 82nd Airborne Division, the 1st Special Forces Group, the 75th Ranger Regiment, the 25th Infantry Division, the U.S. Army Pacific, the 10th Mountain Division, and Combined Joint Task Force 76 in Afghanistan, where he was command chaplain. He was also director of the Capabilities Development Integration Directorate at the U.S. Army Chaplain Center and School, director of operations for the Office of the Chief of Chaplains for the U.S. Army at the Pentagon, and command chaplain for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He is the recipient of numerous military awards and honors, the Ranger tab, and the Army Staff Identification Badge and Master Parachute Wings. He is also authorized to wear parachute wings from seven other countries.
Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty is an organization of chaplain endorsers, the faith groups that provide chaplains for the U.S. military and other agencies needing chaplains. The endorsers in Chaplain Alliance speak for more than 2,600 chaplains serving the Armed Forces.
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