FEATURE STORIES
HOLLY SHORT
MINISTRY IN THE MILITARY
A
Top Left: Holly prays with the Navy Midshipmen football team. Top Right: Holly and Midshipmen football player Trey Cummings
lthough she didn’t always know it, LT. HOLLY SHORT ’03 was called to be a chaplain in the United States Navy. God led her down a path expertly designed to equip her with everything she would need for the role. Currently stationed at the United States Naval Academy as the First Battalion Chaplain, Holly is a Fleet Marine Force Qualified Officer and has been serving as a Navy chaplain for eight years now. It was while she was attending Clemson University in her home state of South Carolina that she first felt called to ministry. After her sophomore year, Holly transferred to Southeastern where she would earn a bachelor’s degree in pastoral ministry and youth ministry. During that time, she received
32 SOUTHEASTERN
confirmation of her calling from a Southeastern professor. “I had Dr. Mike Rakes for a pastoral counseling class. He gave me a prophetic word and told me,‘The Lord’s anointed these hands for healing,’” said Holly. “It was pretty impactful for me. At the time I thought it was referring to physical healing, but a lot of what I do now is heart healing.” Following graduation, she began searching for her next steps. After a challenging few years in youth ministry, Holly transitioned to working full time at an upholstery shop that belonged to one of the elders of the church she was attending.The time she spent there acted as a period of healing for her after enduring some difficult circumstances and loss in her family.
Although she was completely content at the shop, there came a point when Holly had a sudden awakening. “I realized that I was good at what I was doing, but it wasn’t what I was made to do,” she recalled. After some reflection, Holly determined that she desired more ministry training. This led her to pursue a Master of Divinity degree (M.Div.) at Fuller Theological Seminary. Near the end of that academic journey, Holly had been chatting with a friend and fellow classmate who was planning to interview for the position of Navy chaplain. This sparked Holly’s curiosity, and she began researching Navy chaplaincy. “At that point, I just assumed I would go back to the upholstery shop, but the more I looked into it, being a chaplain
