Chaplain of the House of Representatives – Prayer Archive

Posted by on Jun 22, 2004 in Spiritual Practices | Comments Off on Chaplain of the House of Representatives – Prayer Archive

Visit the Prayer Archive

I’ve been researching government resources on the Web for work lately, and came across this site. The page is the “Prayer Archive” for the prayers said each day before the House of Representatives begins work. It does seem odd that in a country that officially espouses separation of church and state that a government website would house a “Prayer Archive.” I’ve always known that there was a chaplain, but I figured he was more of a behind-the-scenes resource for members of Congress.

It’s sad that all of the guest clergy appear to be Christian, with a Rabbi here and there. There seem to be several “Universalists,” but I imagine their view may be very close to a Christian one. It would seem more appropriate for guest clergy to be of different paths and perspectives to help expose Congress to the variety of citizens that represent. Why shouldn’t there be Buddhists, B’hai, Hindus, Muslims, and of course, Pagans represented?

I have no issue with the chaplain being Christian while the majority of Congress is. The chaplain’s primary role is to act as spiritual advisor. Not to say that a B’hai chaplain couldn’t act as a spiritual advisor just as well.

You can nominate someone to be a guest chaplain. I’d be thrilled to see someone nominate and acutally get someone other than a Christian and a main-stream Rabbi as guest clergy.


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