Last Sunday’s New York Times ran a feature on Barry C. Black, chaplain to the Senate, who has taken it upon himself to scold Congress for its intransigence in the government shutdown. In his morning prayer, he declared, “We acknowledge our transgressions, our shortcomings, our smugness, our selfishness and our pride. Deliver us from the hypocrisy of attempting to sound reasonable while being unreasonable.” Evidently, Senator Harry Reid’s conscience was cut to the quick, but not quite enough to compromise with Republican leadership.
Interestingly, Mr. Black has not shied away from taking more partisan stances than one would imagine for a Senate chaplain, who is supposed to be able to function in a bipartisan manner. The NYT reports:
Last year, he participated in the Hoodies on the Hill rally to draw attention to the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. In 2007, after objections from groups that did not like the idea of a Senate chaplain appearing alongside political figures, he canceled a speech he was scheduled to give at an evangelical event featuring, among others, Tony Perkins of the conservative Focus on the Family and the columnist and author Ann Coulter.
Such actions are most interesting—every ministerial correction to one side of the aisle carries risk and an expenditure of political capital. As a Seventh Day Adventist, Mr. Black chose the Martin case to make his stand (targeting race issues and gun laws). One wonders how he and other Christian chaplains will react to marriage and life issues.
After describing some of the chaplain’s important duties (which I found quite fascinating), the Times reveals that Mr. Black hopes that cooler heads will prevail in the shutdown contest.
In light of this article, I contend the tension between the City of God and the City of Man is tightest in the office of chaplain. Government—the employers—demand that chaplains function as the ethical voice and counsel for government workers (whether military or otherwise). At the same time, chaplains are supposed to avoid overly partisan maneuverings, manipulations, and finger-waggling. I confess I wouldn’t know how to navigate that world now that the common moral fabric in the political sphere has started to unravel at an increasingly rapid pace. With America’s bipartisan federal First Amendment polity, clergy may find it difficult to chart the proper course for their bearing and behavior.
What do you think?
Comment by Donnie on October 10, 2013 at 10:16 am
Not shocked at all. I knew he was a liberal once the NY Times and official UMC sites were praising him.
Comment by Joel on October 10, 2013 at 2:01 pm
I’m a military chaplain and protestant. Whats not clear is defining what the city of God consists of in the chaplain world. Military chaplains are expected to include govt protected groups in their ministry obligations even when it conflicts with their Biblical conscious. This maneuvering consistently erodes the boundaries of the city of God if you will. And the result is an irrelevant minister that can only parrot the prevailing cultural mores if they wish to avoid conflict. The senate Chaplains stances reflect the dominant culture, nothing to worry about losing a job over. In contrast those who want to uphold traditionally biblical values fear a loss of favor necessary for a good evaluation. I made a choice to resign as I saw the increasing secularization of chaplain work. And I don’t foresee the city of God transforming into a political voice. It will prevail in spite of what the other world does
Comment by Bart Gingerich on October 10, 2013 at 11:53 pm
Scary stuff. Sounds like there’s pressure to be a priest for the American civil religion rather than the Christian faith.
Comment by sky pilot on October 14, 2013 at 2:28 pm
I have known Chaplain Black for 30 years, serving with him as an evangelical United Methodist Navy chaplain. He is a strong evangelical and is taking a biblical and common sense approach (akin to some of the prayers of predecessor Peter Marshall) over integrity in process rather than partisan preferences.