Coverage of the 211th General Assembly Assembly provides funding for military chaplains Paula R. Kincaid The Layman Online Tuesday, June 29, 1999 FORT WORTH – The Presbyterian Council for Chaplains and Military Personnel, which provides the required ecclesiastical endorsement for Presbyterian Church (USA) military chaplains, will be funded by the General Assembly Council, and the GAC has been directed by the 211th General Assembly to look at ways to increase funding for the group. While an overture from the Presbytery of Long Island had called for the Council to be placed under the auspices of the Office of the General Assembly for administrative and funding purposes, the action of the Assembly places the group under the GAC. The Assembly specified funding the group "at current levels," instead of at the sum of the former PCUS and UPCUSA funding levels, indexed for inflation as requested by the overture. A comment, approved by the Assembly, states, "Recognizing the valuable role our chaplains play in ministry to those who serve our nation, we express our appreciation to them and commend study of ways appropriately to increase funding for the Presbyterian Council for Chaplains and Military Personnel to the General Assembly Council, National Ministries Division." The Presbyterian Council for Chaplains and Military Personnel represents four Presbyterian denominations: the PCUSA, the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. According to the overture, should the Council be discontinued due to lack of funding, "any active duty military chaplain, reserve military chaplain, veterans affairs chaplain, chaplain of the Civil Air Patrol, or chaplain candidate who is a member of the Presbyterian Church (USA) will have no endorsing agency and will no longer be able to serve as a chaplain." Related articles Overture requests funding for chaplains, military personnel, May, 27 1999, The Layman Online Council for Chaplains and Military Personnel gets low priority; GAC says it must plan to raise its own funds, Nov/Dec, 1998, The Presbyterian Layman Response from a Layman Online reader The Presbyterian Council for Chaplains and Military Personnel web site

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