Largest Chaplains' Group Says No New Executive Order Is Needed

According to today's Washington Post, the National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces, a long-standing multi-faith organization representing over 70 per cent of the chaplains in the military, has written the Senate Armed Services Committee opposing a call by conservative members of Congress for the President to issue an order guaranteeing chaplains the right to pray in the name of Jesus. Rev. Herman Keizer Jr., chairman of NCMAF, said: "This has been portrayed as though chaplains are not allowed to pray in Jesus's name, without any distinction between what they do all the time in worship services and what they do occasionally, in ceremonial settings where attendance is mandatory." Calls for an executive order to protect the right to pray in Jesus's name have originated mainly from a two-year old rival association, the International Conference of Evangelical Chaplain Endorsers that represents about 800 chaplains, exclusively from evangelical Christian churches.