Chaplain of the United States Senate
The chaplain of the United States Senate opens each session of the United States Senate with a prayer, and provides and coordinates religious programs and pastoral care support for senators, their staffs, and their families. The chaplain is appointed by a majority vote of the members of the Senate on a resolution nominating an individual for the position. The three most recent nominations have been submitted based on a bipartisan search committee although that procedure is not required.
Chaplains are elected as individuals and not as representatives of any religious community, body, or organization. As of 2024, all Senate chaplains have belonged to various denominations of Christianity, though there are no restrictions against members of any religion or faith group. Guest chaplains, recommended by senators to deliver the session's opening prayer in place of the Senate chaplain, have represented "all the world's major religious faiths."
The current chaplain is Barry C. Black, a retired Navy Rear Admiral and former Chief of Navy Chaplains. He is the first Seventh-day Adventist and the first African-American to hold the position.
Duties
The chaplain of the United States Senate is chosen to "perform ceremonial, symbolic, and pastoral duties." These responsibilities include opening Senate sessions with a prayer or coordinating the delivery of the prayer by guest chaplains recommended by members of the Senate. The chaplain's prayer is referred to as "one of the Senate's most enduring traditions" in the official Senate pamphlet "Traditions of the U.S. Senate."The Senate chaplain is also responsible for "hosting" guest chaplains on the day they deliver prayers. According to the U.S. Senate website, these guest chaplains have represented "many of the world's major religious faiths," and their participation is a sign that the Senate is sensitive to the "increasing religious diversity of the nation."
According to Robert C. Byrd in his book The Senate: 1789-1989, "The Duties that chaplains perform...are not all written down, but they are numerous and have evolved over the centuries." His description continues:
"The Chaplain visits senators when they go to the hospital, represents the Senate in appearances before church groups across the nation, and is host to visiting religious figures who come to the Capitol. On occasion, chaplains of the Senate have led groups of saffron-robed Tibetan monks on tours of the building."
The chaplain also provides pastoral care for the senators, their staffs, and their families, and provides or oversees religious programs such as Bible study, reflection groups, and the weekly Senate Prayer Breakfast. The chaplain also often presides over religious ceremonies such as funerals and memorial services for current or past members and participates, offering delivering the invocation or benediction, at many official U.S. ceremonies, including White House events. For example, Chaplain Barry Black delivered the keynote address at the National Prayer Breakfast held February 2, 2017 before President Trump and previously at the "inaugural prayer breakfast" and the benediction at the "inaugural luncheon" for President Barack Obama. In a January 2011 post on "On Watch in Washington," the chaplain of the Senate as well as the chaplain of the United States House of Representatives were included as part of "Obama's Spiritual Cabinet."
Along with the House chaplain, the Senate chaplain is responsible for overseeing the Capitol Prayer Room, located near the Capitol Rotunda. Dedicated in 1955, there are no worship services held in the room, nor is it normally open to the public. Instead, as described by Sam Rayburn during the room's dedication, it is a place for members "who want to be alone with their God."
The Senate chaplain has a staff that includes a Chief-of-Staff, Director of Communications, and Executive Assistant, and works with a volunteer liaison in each Senate office. While the annual salary for the first Senate chaplains was $500, the salary is now set as a Level IV position in the Executive Schedule, which is $155,500.00 in 2011. The total annual budget for the office, including salaries and expenses, is $415,000 as of 2011.
Guest chaplains have been selected to deliver occasional prayers to open Senate sessions "for many decades." In 1948 Wilmina Rowland Smith became the first female guest chaplain to deliver the opening prayer, in 1992 Warith Deen Mohammed was the first Muslim, in 2007 Rajan Zed was the first Hindu, and in 2014 Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama was the first Buddhist. Senators are limited regarding the number of recommendations they can make regarding guest chaplains, and although there was originally no limit to the number of times per month a guest chaplain could deliver the prayer in the place of the Senate chaplain, that number is now limited to two.
Opening prayer
The inclusion of a prayer before the opening of each session of both the House and the Senate, traces its origins back to the days of the Continental Congress, and the official recommendation of Benjamin Franklin, June 28, 1787:“I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?
We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that ‘except the Lord build the House they labour in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better, than the Builders of Babel...
I therefore beg leave to move— that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the Clergy of this City be requested to officiate in that Service.”
History
Shortly after the Senate first convened in April 1789 in New York City, one of its "first orders of business" was to convene a committee to recommend a chaplain, selecting the Right Reverend Samuel Provoost, Episcopal Bishop of New York. When the Senate moved to Philadelphia the next year, the Right Reverend William White, that city's Episcopal bishop was selected. In 1800, when the Senate relocated to Washington, D.C., clergymen from various Christian denominations continued to be selected, delivering prayers and presiding at funerals and memorial services.During this early period, chaplains "typically served" for less than a year while concurrently serving in non-congressional positions. Also, early Senate and House chaplains, although elected separately by their respected chambers, shared Congressional responsibilities by alternating service in the House and Senate on a weekly basis, also conducting Sunday worship for the Washington, D.C. community in the House Chamber on an alternating basis. Clergymen have served in the official position of Senate Chaplain for all years since the office was created except for the brief period of 1857-1859. In 1914, the Senate began adding the chaplain's prayer to the Congressional Record.
In 1970 New Jersey Senator Harrison A. Williams "reminded his colleagues of James Madison's strong objection when the post was created in 1793", and "noted the modern fulfillment of another of Madison's warnings, that there would inevitably be discrimination in the appointment of such a chaplain against the smaller denominations such as Catholics and Jews." Williams pointed out "that although Catholics have for some time comprised the largest single religious affiliation in both the Senate and the population as a whole, there has been only one Roman Catholic Senate chaplain since 1793, and not a single rabbi." He noted "Only eight denominations have been represented in the office."
In light of this, Williams put forward Senate Resolution 90 which "resulted in the Senate's decision to appoint a new chaplain annually, rather than let the incumbent serve for life." The appointment would also "rotate among the nation's three major religious groups." When asked by reporters about the question of Constitutionality raised by his citing Madison he replied "If this were tested, I would say that it could go either way. It could be declared unconstitutional. Any taxpayer could question this, but no one ever has."
He held that in places where people were isolated by acts of government, such as people in the armed services, hospitals or prisons that chaplains serving them would be Constitutional, "But, I don't know anybody less isolated than members of Congress." In following eras the courts would rule on the constitutionality of the chaplaincy.
The chaplain of the United States Senate became a full-time position in the middle of the 20th century.
According to a Senate Historical Office review of the records concerning guest chaplains, it was in 1965 that James Kirkland became the first African-American to open the Senate with prayer. In 1971 Wilmina Rowland became the first woman to do so. Wallace Mohammed was the first Muslim to do so in 1992, and Rajan Zed was the first Hindu to say the opening prayer for the Senate in 2007. Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama became the first Buddhist to lead the Senate in prayer, and as of 2014 was the highest religious official to do so.
Selection
Unlike the chaplain of the United States House of Representatives, who must be elected to a two-year term at "the beginning of each Congress," the Senate chaplain does not have to be reelected. Both the House and Senate chaplains are elected as individuals, "not as representatives of any religious body or denominational entity."When a vacancy occurs, the Senate chooses a new chaplain through a vote on the adoption of a resolution. According to a 2011 Congressional Research Service congressional report, "The three most recent Senate candidates for chaplain have been nominated by a bipartisan search committee that examined possible applicants. This method has not always been Senate practice and may differ from any future nomination." Ultimately, it is the "leadership" of the Senate that can decide on what names can be put forth as nominations.
The report also notes that "The post of chaplain to the Senate has generally not been subject to party considerations."