Covenant with military chaplains being developed By John H. Adams The Presbyterian Layman Volume 34, Number 2 Posted March 26, 2001 LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Presbyterian Church (USA) has taken a few first steps toward securing a relationship with and funding for the umbrella organization that represents Presbyterian chaplains in the military. The General Assembly Council received and approved the first rendering of a covenant with the Presbyterian Council for Chaplains and Military Personnel. The covenant calls for special member status to the chair of the chaplain’s council on the National Ministries Division Committee. The chaplains’ representative would have a voice but not a vote on the committee. For years, the chaplains’ organization had been supported by money from the General Assembly’s per-capita budget. But the General Assembly ended that practice, despite protests from the chaplains. The General Assembly Council assumed the responsibility for funding the organization. The council for chaplains and military personnel represents chaplains from the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America and the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. The General Assembly Council contributes $250,000 annually to the organization, about 90 percent of its funds. The PCUSA has 167 chaplains in the armed services, while the other denominations have about 30 to 40, according to Kathy Lueckert, deputy executive director of the General Assembly Council. A few members of the National Ministries Division Committee commented on the proposed covenant, but there were no major changes. Douglas Oldenburg, former moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA), did indicate a reluctance to fully fund the chaplains’ organization because “chaplains are paid more than a lot of our other pastors are paid.” Oldenburg, however, did not recommend any reduction in the budget for the military chaplains.

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