[1]FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)–Professor James T. Spivey Jr. was promoted to brigadier general May 7 during ceremonies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas, making him the highest-ranking chaplain in the U.S. Army Reserves and the third-highest in the Army.
Spivey, associate professor of church history and director of Southwestern’s Houston campus, has been assigned to the Department of the Army and will serve 60 to 90 days of active duty each year.
Spivey has been serving as assistant chief of chaplains for mobilization and reserve affairs since April 1997, a position previously held by retired Brigadier General Wayne W. Hoffman.
“A unique quality (Spivey) has is his number of years on active duty,” Hoffman said. “He knows the Army from another side than the chaplaincy. The fact that he teaches at Southwestern gives him a strong academic perspective. He is a good theologian and church historian. His appointment is a tribute to the position.”
“This is a great day for the Army and the Chaplain Corps,” said Major General Donald Shea, chief of chaplains.
Spivey served as an active duty officer in artillery units 1972-77 and in the reserves 1977-86. In 1986, he transferred to the Chaplain Corps, serving as chaplain of the 607th MP Battalion in Fort Worth from 1986-88 and the 28th Aviation Group in Arlington, Texas, from 1988-90. He served as a chaplain of the 383rd Quartermaster Battalion in Operation Desert Shield/Storm in 1990. He has received numerous honors, including a Bronze Star.
Murley is a newswriter at Southwestern Seminary.