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firstcontinentalcongress9.5.1774.jpg


Chaplain Jacob Duche leading the first prayer in the First Continental Congress at Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia - The Granger Collection, New York

The Religious Composition of the 114th Congress

Chaplains, the official clergymen of Congress, open the daily sessions of the House and Senate with prayer
 
When Congress first moved to Washington, there were few churches in the new city, so the House and Senate chaplains alternated conducting Sunday services in the House chamber. Chaplains have also performed marriages and funerals for members of Congress.

Current Chaplain Fr. Patrick J. Conroy, 60th Chaplain (born October 31, 1950), a Roman Catholic Priest. His selection was announced by the office of John Boehner, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, on May 6, 2011, and he was sworn in as the new House Chaplain May 25, 2011, following a unanimous confirmation of his nomination by the House.
Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives

...(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The election of William Linn as Chaplain of the House on May 1, 1789, continued the tradition established by the Continental Congresses of each day's proceedings opening with a prayer by a chaplain. The early Chaplains alternated duties with their Senate counterparts on a weekly basis. The two conducted Sunday services for the Washington community in the House chamber every other week.



In addition to opening proceedings with prayer, the Chaplain provides pastoral counseling to the House community, coordinates the scheduling of guest chaplains, and arranges memorial services for the House and its staff. In the past, Chaplains have performed marriage and funeral ceremonies for House members.



Date of Appointment - Chaplain - Denomination



May 1, 1789 - William Linn, Presbyterian

December 10, 1790 - Samuel Blair, Presbyterian

November 5, 1792 - Ashbel Green, Presbyterian

November 27, 1800 - Thomas Lyell, Methodist

December 10, 1801 - William Parkinson, Baptist

November 30, 1804 - James Laurie, Presbyterian

December 4, 1806 - Robert Elliott, Presbyterian

October 30, 1807 - Obadiah Bruen Brown, Baptist

May 27, 1809 - Jesse Lee, Methodist

November 13, 1811 - Nicholas Sneathen, Methodist

November 6, 1812 - Jesse Lee, Methodist

September 23, 1814 - Obadiah Bruen Brown, Baptist

December 7, 1815 - Spencer Houghton Cone, Baptist

December 5, 1816 - Burgiss Allison, Baptist

November 16, 1820 - John Nicholson Campbell, Presbyterian

December 10, 1821 - Jared Sparks, Unitarian

December 5, 1822 - John Brackenridge, Presbyterian

December 8, 1823 - Henry Bidleman Bascom, Methodist

December 9, 1824 - Reuben Post, Presbyterian

December 13, 1830 - Ralph Randolph Gurley, Presbyterian

December 13, 1831 - Reuben Post, Presbyterian

December 12, 1832 - William Hammett, Methodist

December 9, 1833 - Thomas H. Stockton, Methodist

December 10, 1834 - Edward Dunlap Smith, Presbyterian

December 24, 1835 - Thomas H. Stockton, Methodist

December 20, 1836 - Oliver C. Comstock, Baptist

September 12, 1837 - Septimus Tustin, Presbyterian

December 11, 1837 - Levi R. Reese, Methodist

February 4, 1840 - Joshua Bates, Congregationalist

December 15, 1840 - Thomas W. Braxton, Baptist

June 9, 1841 - John W. French, Episcopalian

December 13, 1841 - John Newland Maffitt, Methodist

December 14, 1842 - Frederick T. Tiffany, Episcopalian

December 16, 1843 - Isaac S. Tinsley, Baptist

December 4, 1844 - William Mitchel Daily, Methodist

December 1, 1845 - William Henry Milburn, Methodist

December 7, 1846 - William T.S. Sprole, Presbyterian

December 6, 1847 - Ralph Gurley, Presbyterian

December 1, 1851 - Littleton F. Morgan, Methodist

December 6, 1852 - James Gallagher, Presbyterian

December 5, 1853 - William Henry Milburn, Methodist

March 4, 1855 - (None)

July 4, 1861 - Thomas H. Stockton, Methodist

December 7, 1863 - William Henry Channing, Unitarian

December 4, 1865 - Charles B. Boynton, Congregationalist

March 4, 1869 - John George Butler, Presbyterian

December 6, 1875 - S.L. Townsend, Episcopalian

October 15, 1877 - John Poise, Methodist

December 3, 1877 - W.P. Harrison, Methodist

December 5, 1881 - Frederick Dunglison Power, Disciples of Christ

December 3, 1883 - John Summerfield Lindsay, Episcopalian

December 7, 1885 - William Henry Milburn, Methodist

August 7, 1893 - Samuel W. Haddaway, Methodist

December 4, 1893 - Edward B. Bagby, Christian

December 2, 1895 - Henry N. Couden, Universalist

April 11, 1921 - James Shera Montgomery, Methodist

January 3, 1950 - Bernard Braskamp, Presbyterian

January 10, 1967 - Edward G. Latch, Methodist

January 15, 1979 - James D. Ford, Lutheran

March 23, 2000 - Daniel P. Coughlin, Roman Catholic

May 25, 2011 - Patrick J. Conroy, Roman Catholic

Denomination
Methodist 16
Presbyterian 14
Baptist 7
Episcopal 4
Lutheran 2
Unitarian 2
Congregationalist 2
Disciples of Christ 2
Roman Catholic 2
Universalist 1
Total 62

Office of the Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives Website

Chaplain of the United States Senate    

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Chaplain of the United States Senate opens each session (excluding Pro Forma sessions) of the United States Senate with a prayer. The Chaplain is appointed by majority vote of the members of the Senate. All chaplains have been Christian-based, however there is no rule saying that a person of a different religion is barred from this position.

 List of Senate chaplains

Chaplain Denomination Appointed
Samuel Provoost Episcopalian April 25, 1789
William White Episcopalian December 9, 1790
Thomas John Claggett Episcopalian November 27, 1800
Edward Gantt Episcopalian December 9, 1801
A. T. McCormick Episcopalian November 7, 1804
Edward Gantt Episcopalian December 4, 1805
John Johnson Sayrs Episcopalian December 3, 1806
A. T. McCormick Episcopalian November 10, 1807
Robert Elliott Presbyterian November 10, 1808
James Jones Wilmer Episcopalian May 24, 1809
Obadiah Bruen Brown Baptist December 5, 1809
Walter Dulaney Addison Episcopalian December 12, 1810
John Brackenridge, D.D. Presbyterian November 13, 1811
Jesse Lee Methodist September 27, 1814
John Glendy Presbyterian December 8, 1815
Sereno Edwards Dwight Congregationalist December 16, 1816
William Dickinson Hawley Episcopalian December 9, 1817
John Clark Presbyterian November 19, 1818
Reuben Post Presbyterian December 9, 1819
William Ryland Methodist November 17, 1820
Charles Pettit McIlvaine Episcopalian December 9, 1822
William Staughton Baptist December 10, 1823
Charles Pettit McIlvaine Episcopalian December 14, 1824
William Staughton Baptist December 12, 1825
William Ryland Methodist December 8, 1826
Henry Van Dyke Johns Episcopalian December 14, 1829
John Price Durbin Methodist December 19, 1831
Charles Constantine Pise Roman Catholic December 11, 1832
Frederick Winslow Hatch Episcopalian December 10, 1833
Edward Young Higbee Episcopalian December 23, 1835
John Reinhard Goodman Episcopalian December 28, 1836
Henry Slicer Methodist September 11, 1837
George Grimston Cookman Methodist December 31, 1839
Septimus Tustin Presbyterian June 12, 1841
Henry Slicer Methodist December 16, 1846
Clement Moore Butler Episcopalian January 9, 1850
Henry Slicer Methodist December 7, 1853
Henry Clay Dean Methodist December 4, 1855
Stephen P. Hill Baptist December 8, 1856
Phineas Densmore Gurley Presbyterian December 15, 1859
Byron Sunderland Presbyterian July 10, 1861
Thomas Bowman Methodist May 11, 1864
Edgar Harkness Gray Baptist March 9, 1865
John Philip Newman Methodist March 8, 1869
Byron Sunderland Presbyterian December 8, 1873
Joseph J. Bullock Presbyterian March 24, 1879
Elias DeWitt Huntley Methodist December 18, 1883
John George Butler Lutheran March 15, 1886
William Henry Milburn Methodist April 6, 1893
F.J. Prettyman Methodist November 23, 1903
Edward Everett Hale Unitarian December 14, 1903
Ulysses Grant Baker Pierce Unitarian June 18, 1909
F.J. Prettyman Methodist March 13, 1913
Joseph Johnston Muir Baptist January 21, 1921
ZeBarney Thorne Phillips Episcopalian December 5, 1927
Frederick Brown Harris Methodist October 10, 1942
Peter Marshall Presbyterian January 4, 1947
Frederick Brown Harris Methodist February 3, 1949
Edward L.R. Elson Presbyterian January 9, 1969
Richard C. Halverson Presbyterian February 2, 1981
Lloyd John Ogilvie Presbyterian March 11, 1995
Barry C. Black Seventh-day Adventist July 7, 2003

 

Episcopalian 19
Methodist 17
Presbyterian 14
Baptist 6
Unitarian 2
Congregationalist 1
Lutheran 1
Roman Catholic 1
Seventh-day Adventist 1
Total 62

United States Senate Chaplain's Office

United States House of Representatives Chaplain's Office

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 We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.' -  James Madison
 
So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours? — I Kings 3:9

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