Presbyterian chaplains fight for their ministry
By Parker T. Williamson, The Layman Online, June 28, 2000
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Chaplains from all branches of the United States military came out swinging when the General Assembly Committee on Mission Coordination and Budgets opened public hearings. At issue was the fact that denominational leaders are trying to phase out funding for the Presbyterian Council of Military Chaplains. Louisville officials have told the chaplains that if they want their ministry to survive, they must raise the money themselves.
Navy Chaplain Paul Adkins described stressful situations into which Presbyterian chaplains proclaim God’s love. “Our chaplains stand with soldiers and sailors in times of conflict,” he said. “They often experience long separations from their loved ones. But who will minister to them?” “There is nothing like being there,” he said. “The chaplains are there for our young women and men in the military, and the church must be there for our chaplains.”
The Presbyterian chaplains’ program has been a target since the early days of Vietnam. Once lodged in the Office of the General Assembly (the administrative side of the budget), the program was moved to the mission side of the budget under the Division of National Missions. Sharing space and funding with the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, groups devoted to feminist causes like Justice for Women and the Women’s Ministry Program Area, and a support structure for the denomination’s Washington lobby, the chaplains’ program has found itself in hostile territory. Funding for this ministry, when adjusted for inflation, has already been seriously eroded. Now National Ministries has announced that it will phase out all mission funding for the program.
In each of the last seven years, the chaplains have taken their case to the General Assembly, and each year it has received an enthusiastic endorsement from the commissioners. But following adjournment, the chaplains have found themselves back under National Ministries which continues to push them toward self support.
General Assembly commissioners called for an explanation from Rev. Curtis Kearns, Director of the National Ministries Division. “The issue is not about the church supporting its chaplains,” said Kearns. “It is going to do that. The discussion has always been about the level of funding that the mission budget should pay and the amount that the chaplains should raise.”
Kearns said that his division was engaged in “ongoing discussions” with the chaplains, and he asked that the General Assembly take no action regarding their program until those discussions had been completed. But the chaplains said that after seven years of discussion, they are not enthusiastic about any more talk. They asked commissioners to move them back under the Office of the General Assembly where they believe they will receive more generous treatment.
That proposal triggered objection both from Kearns and from Pamela Sharick, representative of the Office of the General Assembly. Both Kearns and Sharick assured commissioners that they would pursue good faith discussions leading toward a “covenant agreement” with the chaplains. They asked that the General Assembly defer the question of funding until that agreement has been negotiated.
Rev. Ron Holloman, a minister from Grace Presbytery, addressed Kearns: “I am not quite clear as to the reason for your de-funding plan. What has occurred that requires de-funding this organization?”
Kearns replied: “There is no de-funding plan. It was just a conversation in 1996, when we gave the chaplains an opportunity to come up with their own system of support.”
Rev. John Goertz, a minister from Prospect Hill Presbytery, observed that the issue couldn’t be availability of funds, when the General Assembly Council so easily came up with a $400,000 bailout for the National Council of Churches.
Rev. John Kelso, a minister from San Jose and a Vietnam veteran, jumped to his feet. “I don’t understand this,” he said. “The chaplain program is the best bargain we have. Millions of dollars in chaplains’ salaries and benefits are being paid by the federal government. All we have to do is come up with less than $400,000 to administer the program. That’s a deal, and we can’t talk about de-funding it.”
After almost three hours’ discussion the commissioners voted (46-1) to declare their strong support for the chaplains’ program. They approved a motion that directs the General Assembly Council to fund the program at the level of $250,000 (a slight increase) for the years 2000 and 2001 while the study is being completed. The committee’s recommendation will go to the General Assembly later this week.