In November 2025, Lt. j.g. Stacie Powell completed the U.S. Navy’s Naval Chaplaincy School Basic Leadership Course at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island.
By doing so, the 49-year-old wife, mother and grandmother became the first female active-duty Navy chaplain endorsed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to Chaplain Tamara Harris, the Church’s chaplain services manager.
“Stacie Powell is the first female chaplain from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to serve in the United States Navy. She is a faithful pioneer for Latter-day Saint women in military chaplaincy, willing to serve where few are called,” Harris said. “Through her commission, she may be assigned worldwide in support of the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.”
Powell is currently stationed at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island near Oak Harbor, Washington, where she serves as a CREDO Detachment chaplain. This unique role focuses on enhancing spiritual well-being and building resilience in individuals, families and marriages for active-duty military members, which includes organizing retreats and workshops.
Powell said the profession is challenging and the journey to reach this point has been rigorous. Despite having 32 years of experience in marriage, family and the military, she has sometimes questioned her qualifications and wondered if she was too old.
“Many times I would think, ‘What am I doing?’ But each time I have doubted and taken that doubt to the Lord, I have felt a calm and reassurance to have faith and keep going,” she said. “God blesses those who try to follow His promptings.”
Early turning point
Both from American Fork, Utah, Stacie Powell and her husband, Josh Powell, were raised in less-active Latter-day Saint families. They married when she was 17 and he was 19. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps, and they were stationed in Yuma, Arizona, when Stacie learned she was pregnant.
This marked a major turning point in their lives.
“My husband decided he wanted to do better for our family than he had,” she said. “We were walking through a grocery store one day, and the missionaries were there. My husband walked up to them and said, ‘I want to start going to Church. What ward are we in?’”
They learned they were in the Yuma 3rd Ward and attended Sunday services. They sat in the back row and were noticed by the bishop, the late Stephen H. Spencer, who hustled from the stand to catch the couple before they left after sacrament meeting.
Stacie Powell said they met with Bishop Spencer, who helped her husband give up smoking so he could be ordained to the priesthood and give their newborn daughter a baby blessing.
One year and a day after they were married, the young family was sealed in the San Diego California Temple.
Blessed with military moves
From that point on, the Powells were fully committed to service in the Church as they experienced frequent relocations over the years due to military assignments.
Their sequence of moves was as follows: From Yuma, Josh Powell was sent to Okinawa, Japan, while Stacie and their baby stayed with family in Utah. They then moved back to Yuma, Arizona; Twentynine Palms, California; back to Utah; then to Yuma, Arizona, again; Miramar, California; Stafford, Virginia (Josh at the Pentagon); and finally, back to Yuma, Arizona, which they considered “home base” due to their four returns. Additionally, Josh Powell was deployed to Iraq in 2006.
Despite their constant relocations, the Powells found being Latter-day Saints in the military to be a blessing. They were warmly welcomed into each new ward family and appreciated every opportunity to serve in various callings.
These experiences taught Powell that Heavenly Father patiently guides and works with His children wherever they are, especially when they have a willing heart.
“What we found is that being a member of the military is pretty awesome,” she said. “We would move to places and find people that felt like our family. It healed a lot of the issues my husband and I had growing up in a little bit more turbulent households. We found how much the gospel really worked.”
More chaplains needed
After their last assignment in Yuma, Master Gunnery Sgt. Josh Powell retired from the U.S. Marine Corps after feeling a spiritual impression from the Lord that it was time.
When their daughter returned from her mission in Mexico, the couple felt a strong prompting to move to Alaska.
Although initially hesitant, they moved to Fairbanks, Alaska, near Fort Wainwright, where Josh Powell was soon called to serve as bishop. Their time in Alaska, though challenging, provided a significant learning opportunity, said Stacie Powell, who enjoyed serving as a seminary teacher during those years.
Following Josh’s release as bishop, the couple served as military relations missionaries at Fort Wainwright for six months. However, the experience was frustrating because they spent most of their time getting approval to carry out their activities on the base.
When finished, the stake presidency asked what the Powells had learned.
“Out of my mouth pops, ‘We need more Latter-day Saint chaplains,’” Stacie Powell said. “Instead of trying to work from the outside in, we need to be on the inside.”
For the first time, Stacie Powell considered becoming a chaplain, and she couldn’t shake the thought from her mind. She was already contemplating a return to higher education as their youngest son prepared to leave on a mission.
Powell was concerned that at age 47 she was too old, but then she discovered that the Navy accepts chaplains in their 50s. After more research and a few phone calls, she had an interview with Todd Linton, a retired Air Force colonel and director of the Church’s Military Relations and Chaplain Services Division.
During the interview, “I knew without a doubt, head to toe, that this is what God wanted us to do,” Stacie Powell said, adding that she was accepted into BYU’s Chaplaincy Program.
In her late 20s, while living on a Marine base and raising young children, Powell aspired to become a Marine officer but recognized it was impractical due to family responsibilities. Two decades later, becoming a chaplain felt like the Lord was granting her the chance to fulfill that long-held dream.
‘Gung-ho in the service’
During chaplain basic training, candidates had to complete a challenging 7-mile hike while carrying a 50-pound rucksack. Not only did Powell complete the exercise, but she was “at the front of the pack the whole time.”
“When we got done with that, I thought, ‘Wow. It’s amazing to me how God knows His children and He knows what we want and need.’ To be able to accomplish that after having that be a desire that I never thought would come to fruition is pretty awesome,” she said.
Another meaningful and “beautiful” moment came when Powell — no longer just a supportive spouse but now in uniform herself — stood at attention under a bright sun and saluted the American flag as the national anthem played.
Supported by her husband and daughters Pearl Wise and Paige Cole, Powell graduated from the Naval Chaplaincy School Basic Leadership Class at an event that took place Nov. 19-20, 2025, at Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island.
The example of military service has influenced their children’s lives. Their oldest daughter is married to a Border Patrol agent. The second daughter is married to a husband who just graduated from Marine Corps Officer Candidates School. The third daughter and her husband both aspire to be doctors in the U.S. Navy. Finally, their son is an active-duty Marine currently stationed in Florida.
“We are all pretty gung-ho in the service,” Stacie Powell said with a smile.
Let the Lord multiply your talents
Reflecting on her journey, Powell expressed gratitude for her husband, her family, BYU’s chaplaincy program and everyone who has supported her. She upholds the four core competencies of the Navy Chaplain Corps: provide, facilitate, care and advise.
“Learning how to love people in the midst of crisis, their hardest moments, can be challenging, but it is also so rewarding,” she said.
Powell is honored to be the first active-duty Navy chaplain endorsed by the Church and to serve alongside men who have welcomed her into the fold. Regardless of her gender, she strives to be a good chaplain.
“To be the first female does weigh on me in that I hope to set a good example for those who will follow,” Powell said. “As it is new, I sometimes feel like I am building the airplane while flying it and I just pray my efforts align with what the Lord would have me do and that it will all work out. I look forward to welcoming other sisters into the exclusive group of Latter-day Saint Navy chaplains.”
Powell hopes that those who read her story, especially those who feel older or less talented, will choose to offer their skills and talents to the Lord.
“How many times has He told us, ‘If you are doing it with me, I will make it enough. I will multiply it. We are going to feed the 5,000. Just have faith.’ That is what I feel like,” she said, referencing the New Testament story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 in Matthew 14. “People my age can sit back and be comfortable, or you can realize that now that you know your talents, it is time to go out and multiply them and use them to help people.”
