SDA Chaplains in the Federal Government

[Gregory Matthews]

AKA has requested that I repost a number of posts that I have made related to my service as a Federal chaplain in a thread devoted to this subject.  That is what I am doing here.  After I have finished, feel free to comment.

[Gregory Matthews]

I was employed as a chaplain by both the U.S. Army and the VA (the Department of Veterans affairs). 

Under the provisions of the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Federal government  must depend upon the respective denominations to supply them with chaplains.  IOW, the Federal government can not on its own go out and decide who is to represent the denomination and the respective chaplain must represent  a denominational/religious group.  From that perspective:

 1)  The Federal government requires permission from the denomination to employ a chaplain.  This permission is formally called "endorsement."  In the SDA denomination what is now known as Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries (ACM), has been formally recognized as the denominational agency the is recognized to provide the endorsement.  

2) The denomination has the authority to withdraw that endorsement.  Again, it is ACM that is formally authorized to do such.  In the military, withdrawal of endorsement typically takes two weeks to effect, providing that the individual in neither in the hospital nor facing criminal charges.  If such is the situation, the termination may not take place until those issues are resolved.

3)  Has the SDA Church ever withdrawn the endorsement of one of their chaplains?  Yes.  However, most of the time, what is now ACM has worked with the chaplain to put in place a situation where the chaplain resigns and therefore the church did not have to withdraw the endorsement.  However, in situations, which have occurred, if the chaplain wanted to change their denomination from that  a SDA to some other denominational group, ACM has not attempted to prevent that.

4) Are you personally aware of any of the above situations?  Yes, I am personally of all of the above situations.

NOTE:   The strangest situation of which I am personally aware occurred  when I discovered a SDA  chaplain for whom ACM had withdrawn his endorsement and yet remained as a SDA chaplain.  To this day, no one understands how this major breach of administrative procedure occurred.   However, that situation was rectified and  he did not  continue as a military chaplain.  In general the system works very well to protect the integrity of the Federal chaplaincy. 

NOTE:  In private industry, laws do not exist as I have outlined them above, to protect the right of a denomination to determine who is employed to represent the denomination.  Therefore situations have existed in which people have been employed, in private industry, as SDA clergy, whom the SDA denomination had either not recognized as clergy, or had not   given permission to so employ.  When these cases have become known, the  denomination has worked to resolve them.  But, those have had to be dwelt with on an individual basis.  Again, I am personally aware of these.

 

[Gregory Matthews]

I will give you an example of a situation of which I became personally involved:

At that time I was on the teaching faculty of the Army Chaplain School.  NOTE:  We did not train people to be clergy, that function belonged to the denominations.  We trained clergy to be Army chaplains.

One time, three of my students came to me and told me that based upon their understanding of SDA beliefs and practice, they could not understand how another student could actually be endorsed by the SDA denomination.

As I looked into this situation I discovered that he had remained in the Army, as a SDA chaplain, after   ACM had withdrawn his endorsement.  None of us understand how that happened.

 

[Gregory Matthews]

Do you know anything about other denominations withdrawing the endorsement of one of their chaplains?

Yes, I was personally involved with a Roman Catholic priest that was quickly terminated when the Roman Catholic Church withdrew his endorsement as an Army chaplain.

However, he was in the hospital at the time, so there was a bit of a delay until his condition could be stabilized.  But he was immediately suspended from his duties as a chaplain and prohibited from functioning as a RC priest.

[Gregory Matthews]

Have you ever been involved in a situation where an individual not recognized as SDA clergy has been hired as a SDA Chaplain, and if so, how has this been resolved?

Yes, and are you surprised to hear me say so.  I will give you one example.  But, there have been others.

This was a female who generally met the   requirements to be Commissioned as SDA Clergy.  However, clearly related to the fact that she was female, she did not meet the requirement to be Commissioned and therefore could not be endorsed.  But, she had been  hired in private industry and was functioning as a chaplain.

A Baptist clergyperson, who was a personal friend of mine, decided that this situation should be rectified.  She had a close relationship with the SDA Church and knew SDA policy well.    [NOTE:  Of course she knew me well also.]   She approached ACM and told them that the bottom line was that if this had been a male, he would have been ordained and endorsed.  But, due to a minor difference in policy, the fact that the person was female prevented her from being commissioned and endorsed, where females in other situations would have been Commissioned and endorsed.  She told ACM that this needed to be changed.

Well, in any large organizations it takes a while to change policy.  But, that eventually happened, the person was Commissioned and endorsed and continues to work in private industry as a SDA chaplain.

[Gregory Matthews]

Question:  So, a clergyperson, not SDA, worked to allow the SDA denomination to authorize a person to serve as a SDA chaplain.  Are you aware of any other situation where clergy of other denomination have worked to get SDA Clergly authorized?

Yes.  [Again, surprise?    ]

The SDA church has military chaplains today due to the fact that a group of Army chaplains pled with the GC to allow SDA clergy to become military chaplains.

But, that is to long a story to tell here.

[Gregory Matthews]

O.K.  I will give you a very brief version of the story above.  By the way, both Bob Mole and I have written on this subject.  My written material was produced in an academic setting and is not available.  What Bob Mole wrote was privately published and not available.  He wrote several books on the history of the SDA military chaplaincy.  ACM published them and privately distributed them.  They are no longer available.

Back to the issue in the previous post:

World War II had ended.  A number of SDA military persons had been convicted of crimes based upon their religious convictions and were serving time in Federal Prisons.  A group of three (3) senior chaplains in the Office of the Army Chief of Chaplains in the Pentagon requested to meet with representatives of the General Conference.  This meeting was granted.

The three chaplains pled with the GC to endorse SDA Clergy to serve as military chaplains in order to advocate for the spiritual interests of SDA military members.

The SDA denomination reluctantly agreed to do so.

Bob Mole became the first of three who were endorsed by the denomination to serve as military chaplains.  He entered the U.S, Navy.

At the time the GC endorsed him, the GC included a letter in the endorsement package that requested the Navy to give him hard assignments that would result in him leaving the Navy at the end of his 3-year commitment!  NOTE:  Bob served for more than 20 years.

 

 

[Gregory Matthews]

Question:  Has any SDA ever served as a Federal chaplain who was not endorsed by the denomination.

Books have been written on the history of the Federal Military chaplaincy.  There is much that lies in the historical past, some of which is not fully supported.

It is believed by some SDAs who study our history that there was a SDA clergyperson who served as a Federal chaplain, not military, in the distant past who was not endorsed by the denomination as such was not required at that time.

That is more complicated than can be dwelt with here.  I tend to believe it to be true.

[Gregory Matthews]

In a real way we today owe a gift of thanks to the three military chaplains who were first endorsed by the denomination.  All three served for 20 or more years.  All three were successful and blazed the path for the acceptance of SDAs to serve in the military as chaplains.  It is because of them and the quality of the people endorsed by what is now ACM that in part has made it possible for others to serve.  Bob Mole laid the foundation in both the U.S. Navy and in the Department of Veterans' Affairs, after he retired from the Navy.

Those early clergy have made it possible for SDA  clergy to successfully serve in  spite of institutional predjuce against them.

In a time when very few  were chosen to go Regular Army, Dick Stenbakken became the first to have it happen to him.

I became the first SDA to serve as a chaplain to a National  Guard unit.  This only happened due to God deciding to make it happen, but that is another story in itself.

In an early time in my service as an Army chaplain, I was one of eight (8) Army chaplains.  Altogether we had about a dozen military chaplains.  Now we have in excess of 50, or is it 100?   I do not have a current figure.  In any case, SDA serve in the military branches on active duty, in the National Guard, and in the Reserves.

[Gregory Matthews]

O.K.  Tell us how you became a chaplain in the National Guard:

The Army had a program where-by clergy who were considering a future in the Army chaplaincy could be in the Army in a status where they did not have to provide any service of any kind.   I was in that status.  NOTE:  While this program still exists, it has changed in a manner that would not allow me to have functioned as I did  at that time.

A one-star general was angry that his senior chaplain who the general believed had not properly filled a chaplain space in this National Guard unit.  So, the general informed his chaplain that the general would demonstrate that such a space could easily be filled and he set out to recruit a chaplain.

At this time, that senior chaplain put in for retirement.  The chaplain replaced him could not immediately fill the position due  to administrative issues.   His prior experience with SDAs had not been helpful.  At a later time, he told me that if he had been in the position to do so, he would never have allowed me to become a NG chaplain.  NOTE:  Later he became my best friend and supported me.

Anyway, this general officer searched the military files, found may name and asked me to visit him for an interview.  In that interview I told him that I would be unable to drill on Saturdays as I had denominational requirements.  He asked   if I would be willing to deploy and to go on the two-week mobalizations.  I told him that I would.  He then informed me that he would accept me and that he would issue the order that made if possible for me not to drill on Saturdays.  I became the first SDA chaplain to serve in a National Guard unit.

At a later time I was moved to another area.   At that time  I needed to transfer to an Army Reserve Unit.   I was visited by  senior chaplain who asked about my availability.  I again informed him of my unwillingness to drill on Saturdays.  He said  he would make it happen and he did.

I later decided that I really did not have a  future  in the Reserves, in part due to my position on drilling on Saturdays.   So, I became  full time active Army chaplain.  Again, God made that happen.

At that time, which is not the present situation, denominations received a fixed number of people whom they could have on active duty.  The SDA denomination had their full quota.  They could not have any more chaplains.

Near the end of the fiscal year a Baptist chaplain candidate failed to pass his active Army physical.  To keep from losing that chaplain slot, the Army  offered to change this Baptist slot to a SDA slot if the denomination would endorse me.  The Church typically works slowly.  It did not have the normal time to go through the normal process to endorse a military candidate.  However, my endorsement took place and I entered active military service as a chaplain and I completed 20 years of service.

It should be noted that God had intervened in another way.    While I served for two (2) years as a draftee and 18 years as a chaplain, at no time did I ever meet the medical requirements to serve.  But, God made it happen and I not only entered active duty twice, but I served for a total of    20+ years.

Folks, when God  wants you to serve, God  makes it happen regardless of human road blocks.

 

 

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

Gregory had another similar, but not the same, interesting thread pertaining to this topic a few years ago:  

I love reading stories like this...

[Gregory Matthews]

I am not aware of ever publishing in the Times of India.  I attempted to find the page that Pam cited and was unable to do so.

Oh, well, perhaps I have been picked up Internationally and not known  about it. :)

Thanks, Pam

 

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

you need to click on the title of "Unusual Military Chaplain" ... that was your topic.

Within the topic, you'd posted the story from India:  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/citizen-journalists/citizen-journalists-reports/kumudini-gupta/In-conversation-with-captain-Pratima-Dharm-first-Hindu-priest-of-US-army/articleshow/29666605.cms?

[Gregory Matthews]

Thank you Pam.  That article was interesting.