Hello and thank you for visiting my website.
I am the founder and director of Warriors on the Way. Warriors on the Way is a purpose designed pilgrimage for Combat Veterans for the sake of PTSD/Moral Injury Healing. The Warriors on the Way pilgrimage takes place on the Camino de Santiago, Spain. When not on pilgrimage, I provide spiritual direction, guiding people through the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola. I received my certification as a spiritual director through the Magis Ignatian Spirituality program at Oblate School of Theology.
I previously served in the United States Army as a chaplain. While in the Army I deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as the chaplain to Black Knights of the 1st Battalion of the 5th Cavalry Regiment in the 1st Cavalry Division. My career in the Army Chaplaincy culminated with an assignment as the Curriculum Developer and Instructor at the Army Medical Center and School in San Antonio, TX. In that position I wrote and taught the Army Chaplain’s course on how to provide a Ministerial Response to Moral Injury.
Prior to becoming a chaplain I was a US Army Paratrooper for many years. While stationed in New York I served as an adjunct professor for Empire State College (SUNY) teaching “Introduction to World Religions” and “Religious Thought in the World Perspective.” In 2017, I travelled to Kenya to teach a Ministerial Response to Trauma to the students at Bishop Hannington Theological College.
I have a BA from Excelsior College (Formerly Regents College, University State of New York). My theological education includes the Master of Divinity (Southwestern, Ft Worth), Master of Theology from (Cranmer Theological House, Houston), Master of Theology in Preaching (University of Wales, Wales), Doctor of Ministry (University of Chester, England), and the Master of Sacred Theology in Ascetical Theology (Nashotah House). Both of the degrees from the UK were done with Spurgeon’s College (London).
My military education includes the Chaplain Basic Course, Chaplain Career Course, the Brigade Chaplain Functional Course, Airborne School, Jumpmaster School, Rough Terrain Parachutist Course, and the Air Assault School among others.
I have been interviewed by various media outlets. Follow these links to see the interviews by NBC/MSNBC and PBS and by the US Army Chaplain Corps.
I post book reviews and essays on a variety of theological subjects at academia.edu. To see these essays click here.
———– EDIT AS OF 26 SEPTEMBER 2022 ———–
It has come to my attention that there has recently been a letter circulated by the ICAB (Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasilieira – AKA The Apostolic Catholic Church of Brazil) that makes the accusation that I have been claiming to be a bishop within ICAB.
That accusation is absolutely false. I have never made any such claim. I am not a member, in any capacity, of the ICAB, I have never been a member of the ICAB, I have no desire or intention of being a member of the ICAB. I have never been contacted by any member of the ICAB regarding these accusations. How the various members of the ICAB leadership in Brasilia, Brazil may have obtained my name in connection with such false accusations is unknown to me, but it seems likely that a person of ill will for some malicious reason sent them a false report.
Regardless, I reply to the anonymous accuser as Nehemiah did when he was falsely accused, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind” (Nehemiah 6:8). Furthermore, no matter who spoke these lies, all lies come from the evil one and are designed in the attempt to derail and destroy Christian ministry. As Jesus said about those who spread such lies, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
I do believe that the leadership authorities with the ICAB issued their letter in good faith after hearing what are slanderous lies. However, if the ICAB continues to distribute said letter, they are equally complicit in the act of slander.
——— EDIT 2 —————
06 May 2023
It has come to my attention that there is an Old Catholic church here in the United States that has claimed that I am a bishop within their church. That is a false claim. I am not a member of any such church. I did assist an Old Catholic Church in setting up a synod in San Antonio and brought those attending to see the historic San Antonio mission churches, but that is the extent of any connection I have with any Old Catholic/Old Roman Catholic organization.
Please see the link in my signature block which will bring you to my church affiliation with the Society of St James.
Briefly, from the SSJ website:
As it is in itself a true particular and fully Catholic Church, the Society of St James was not formed within, nor is it a member of, an external church structure.* The Society of Saint James will collaborate, however, with those church bodies who are committed to the same mission.
* “The Churches which, while not existing in perfect communion with the Catholic Church, remain united to her by means of the closest bonds, that is, by apostolic succession and a valid Eucharist, are true particular Churches. Therefore, the Church of Christ is present and operative also in these Churches.”
Cardinal Ratzinger (Later Pope Benedict XVI), writing as the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith
———- END EDITS ———-
Buen Camino,
Fr Steve, SSJ
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Warriors on the Way