The Beginnings of Ecclesiastical Endorsement
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, denominational headquarters were not involved in the appointment of chaplains to the Army or Navy. During the wars of that early era, military regiments consisted mostly of men drawn from one town, village, county, or region, as were their chaplains. Regimental and brigade commanders generally selected their chaplains from available volunteers and chose men who would be acceptable to their soldiers. The chaplain’s denominational affiliation, then, tended to match that of the members of his unit.
When the appointment of Army chaplains became centralized through the Adjutant General of the Army, interested parties would write Adjutant General to learn if any chaplain opening existed. The Adjutant General would reply, telling the inquirer what openings existed and where. For the Navy, inquiries were addressed to the Director of Naval Personnel. Applicants could then correspond directly with command in which the opening existed.
The services themselves determined if applicants were qualified to serve as chaplains, sometimes with embarrassing results. Although "good standing" as clergyman was required, the services did not verify credentials with the applicant's church. Chaplain appointments could be offered as a form of political patronage, or to a commander's favorite applicant. Some were appointed who had never served churches, proved their effectiveness in ministry, or received any kind of ordination.
Beginning at the turn of the century, this situation began to change. The Protestant Episcopal Church, the Catholic Church, and the Methodist Episcopal Church all asked the government for permission to approve applicants from their respective faith groups.
World War I
The United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917. Over 4.7 million Americans served in uniform during World War I. Prior to the war, the United States Army had only 200,000 soldiers on its rolls, served by 74 chaplains in the Regular Army and 72 in the National Guard. With one chaplain being authorized for every 1,200 soldiers, additional chaplains were desperately needed. By the end of the war, an additional 2,217 chaplains would be commissioned for the Army and Navy.
With the start of World War I, the authority to endorse most chaplains came to rest in one of three organizations. The Federal Council of Churches, which came into existence in 1908, assumed responsibility for endorsing all applicants from its 32 member denominations. The Jewish Welfare Board was created on April 6, 1917, and assumed responsibility for endorsing Jewish applicants. In November 1917, the Pope appointed a bishop as vicar for Catholic military chaplains.
By outsourcing the initial screening of applicants to the major faith groups, the government saved valuable staff hours for the myriad of other tasks associated with the rapid buildup of military forces. Additionally, it removed political patronage and favoritism from chaplain appointments, something that had been an issue for the American chaplaincy since its inception in the War of Independence.
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The General Committee on Army and Navy Chaplains
On March 28, 1917, the Federal Council of Churches (FCC) reached an agreement with Secretaries of War and Navy that that the FCC would have the power to “investigate and nominate all candidates for chaplains.” On the same day, the FCC created a specialized committee to do this work. The General Committee on Army and Navy Chaplains consisted of representatives of each member denomination, and before the war was over it would review 7,931 applications from prospective chaplains (including those that were already on file with the Army and Navy before March 28). The Committee recommended 2,592 applicants to the Army and Navy. Of these, 1,317 would receive a commission, approximately 59% of all chaplains commissioned during the war.
The General Committee required that applicants be college graduates, preferably with at least some seminary training. Applicants needed at least one year of pastoral experience. The committee looked for clergymen (for they were all men) with “force, tact, religious earnestness, physical endurance, preferably with athletic training, … effective speakers and successful workers with men.”
Protestant applicants had to pass screening by committees from their own denominations, and then pass a review by the entire General Committee. The denominational chair from the applicant’s faith group had to agree, as did the chair of the General Committee. Only then was the applicant’s file sent to the Army or Navy as a recommendation.
The FCC intended to ensure that the “entire body of Protestant churches [stands] behind each candidate” and “each man [is] truly a chaplain of all Protestant men.”
Reorganization in World War II
The General Committee reorganized in 1940 as the General Commission on Army and Navy Chaplains. The reorganized Commission was independent of the Federal Council of Churches, enabling a wider group of Protestant churches to participate. Churches whose theology or polity kept them out of the Federal Council could now fall under the Commission's endorsing umbrella. At the same time, World War II saw the emergence of denominational commissions that took on the tasks of recruitment, assessment, and ongoing support of their chaplains. Eventually, larger groups started sending their endorsements directly to the Army and Navy, by-passing the Commission.
The main sources for this article include:
Volume 3 of the official history of the Army Chaplaincy, Up from Handymen, The United States Army Chaplaincy 1865-1920, by Earl F. Stover [Office of the Chief of Chaplains, Washington, DC, 1977]
Chaplains of the United States Army by Roy Honeywell [Office of the Chief of Chaplains, Washington, DC, 1958]
The Service of Chaplains to Army Air Units, 1917-1946, by Daniel B. Jorgensen [Office, Chief of Air Force Chaplains, 1961]