| The Reverend James T. Akers,
Priest of The Anglican Orthodox Church.
Madison, Kansas.
Rev. Akers is currently the State Chaplain of The Kansas American Legion; a post to which he was appointed in 1997. He served as The Legion's National Chaplain in 2004-2005. He has also been the Chaplain for Post No. 5, since 1992. At the National Legion level, he is Chairman of the Education Committee.
A native of Arkansas, Rev. Jim grew up in Oklahoma. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in History, Education, and Psychology, along with a Diploma in Religion and Pastoral Ministry. He is an Ordained Priest of The Anglican Orthodox Church. In 2006, he was named as Chaplain To The Most Rev. Jerry Ogles, Presiding Bishop of the Denomination. He was honored, on two occasions, to serve as a Guest Chaplain in The U.S. House of Representatives.
After high school, Jim enlisted in the U.S. Army, and served in the European Command. Following college, he received a direct commission to the rank of First Lieutenant in the Army's Adjutant General Corps. He was assigned to an Army Reserve Field Artillery Battalion in Oklahoma. In 1967, he transferred to the Kansas National Guard. Called to active duty in 1968 as a Captain, he deployed to Vietnam, serving with the 1st. Infantry Division's 1st. Brigade, and later as a staff officer at Cam Rahn Bay.
Before taking Holy Orders, Jim was a public school teacher and administrator in Oklahoma and Kansas . He and his wife. Betty, live in Madison, where he retired as the Superintendent of Schools for Unified School District No. 386. He has also served as an Interim Minister for churches in his community.
Jim and Betty are the parents of one daughter, Cynthia M. Akers, an Associate Professor at Emporia State University.
Rev. Akers holds memberships in the Veterans of Foreign Wars, The Disabled American Veterans, and The Military Order of The World Wars. In 2005, while serving as National Chaplain, he was made an Honorary Life Member of The Army, Navy, and Air Force Veterans of Canada.
|
