11/11/25

At the School’s annual Veterans Day Chapel, Episcopal’s Interim Assistant Chaplain and Service Learning Director, Rev. Jackie Pippin, returned to campus from maternity leave with a message of gratitude, reflection, and love. The former Air Force chaplain and current reservist described Veteran’s Day as a sacred moment to honor those who have served. “We gather to honor sacrifice, to honor service,” she said. “We gather to remember those who have laid down their lives, their time, their peace of mind, their comfort for the sake of others.”

Pippin drew from John 15:13 to remind students that the day is rooted in love and community, “Scripture tells us, 'No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends,'” she reflected. “These words are not just poetic; they are a radical call for us to love. A love that costs something, a love that gives, and a love that protects.”

After six years as an Air Force chaplain, Pippin recalled the privilege and weight of walking beside service members through life’s most profound moments. “There were the highs: a new baby, a promotion, a homecoming after deployment,” she shared. “But there were also the lows: the missing home and family, the disasters both natural and of our own making, and the incredible losses.” She spoke movingly of military funerals, where chaplains and honor guards pay tribute with “holy dignity,” and the nation’s gratitude is expressed in the words, “on behalf of a grateful nation for their honorable and faithful service.”

That gratitude, Pippin reminded the audience, is not limited to those in uniform but extends to anyone who chooses compassion and service in everyday life. “You may never wear a uniform, but you are called to love, to serve, to give of yourself for the good of others.”

Pippin closed with a reflection that linked remembrance to faith and connection. “Veterans teach us that service is not about glory, it’s about love. May this gathering be a thin place, a moment when heaven brushes up against earth, when we remember that we are part of something bigger, a story of love that stretches across generations.”

Watch the entire Chapel here.