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 The guest speaker this year will be Chaplain
Lieutenant Colonel Karen J. Diefendorf, US Army, Retired. Chaplain
Diefendorf has a 24-year history of service in the Army and a
lengthy history of service to her faith here in Logan County.
BIOGRAPHY
Chaplain Diefendorf served 24 years as an active
duty, Army chaplain, assigned to various commands all over the world
including the Pentagon where she worked on the Constitutionality of
the Chaplaincy. She also contributed to the revision of the Army’s
Field Manual on Leadership as it related to belief systems. She
retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2006 to answer her church’s call
to become the Academic Dean at Lincoln Christian University’s
Undergraduate College, Lincoln, IL and was recalled back to active
duty in 2010 on special assignment by the Secretary of the Army and
Chief of Chaplains. Karen received multiple military awards to
include two awards of the Legion of Merit and Instructor of the Year
at the Army Chaplain Center and School. She was also the first
female chaplain to become a paratrooper. Karen was inducted into the
Army Women’s Foundation Hall of Fame, class of 2020.
Chaplain Diefendorf's military awards include the Legion of Merit
with one oak leaf cluster, Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak
Leaf Clusters, Joint Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal
with oak leaf cluster, Joint Achievement Medal, Army Achievement
Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters, Parachutist Badge, and Instructor
of the Year at US Army Chaplain Center and School.
Karen spent over 13 years in the local parish in Lincoln and
Elkhart, Illinois prior to entering the Army.
Following the completion of her recall to active duty, January 2014,
she served a Tyson Prepared Foods plant as a part-time chaplain
while also serving as a chaplain with Hospice Care of South
Carolina.
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She completed her formal pastoral career as Director, Chaplain
Services for Tyson Foods, Inc., directing the largest corporate chaplain program
in the world, retiring in April 2021.
She continues active ministry by hosting a weekly radio program,
“Encounters With God” on Wreaths Across America Radio and serving on five
boards, Wreaths Across America, Philippine Mission of the Churches of Christ, US
Army Chaplain Corps Regimental Association, Marsh Center for Chaplain Studies,
and Tyson Center for Faith and Spirituality at the University of Arkansas.
She holds an undergraduate degree in Christian Education and Master of Divinity
in Pastoral Care and Counseling from Lincoln (IL) Christian College and Seminary
(now Lincoln Christian University) and a Master of Sacred Theology in Christian
Ethics from Yale University. Karen completed all residency requirements for the
Doctor of Ministry degree from Lexington Theological Seminary. She was honored
to receive an honorary Doctor of Theology degree from Seoul Christian
University, Seoul, South Korea.
She is married to husband, Walt, for 44 years and they have three adult children
and six grandchildren.
[Text from file received]
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