Presbyterian chaplains win fight for funds By Parker T. Williamson The Presbyterian Layman Volume 33, Number 4 Posted August 4, 2000 LONG BEACH, Calif. – Chaplains from all branches of the United States military came prepared for battle to this year’s General Assembly. 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. Taking their case directly to the General Assembly, the chaplains asked that their funding not be cut while a study of their relationship to the denomination is being conducted. The Assembly granted their request by appropriating $250,000 in 2000 and in 2001 to keep the program alive. 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. In a committee meeting prior to the General Assembly action, 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.” 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 $400,000 to bail the National Council of Churches out of its deficit. 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.” The General Assembly agreed, securing the chaplains’ funding for the next year and a half.

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