Senate Chaplain

Chapter 1: Office of the Senate Chaplain
Chapter 2: Senate Chaplains

Office of the Senate Chaplain

When the Senate first convened in New York City on April 6, 1789, one of its first orders of business was to appoint a committee to recommend a candidate for chaplain. On April 25, the Senate elected the Right Reverend Samuel Provoost, Episcopal Bishop of New York, as its first chaplain. Since that time, the Senate has been served by chaplains of various religious denominations, including Episcopalians (19), Methodists (17), Presbyterians (14), Baptists (6), Unitarians (2), Congregationalists (1), Lutherans (1), Roman Catholics (1), and Seventh-day Adventists (1). The Senate has also appointed guest chaplains representative of all the world's major religious faiths. In addition to opening the Senate each day in prayer, the current Senate chaplain's duties include spiritual care and counseling for senators, their families, and their staffs—a combined constituency of over 6,000 people—and discussion sessions, prayer meetings, and a weekly Senators' Prayer Breakfast.

For more information, see "Senate Chaplain" by Senator Robert C. Byrd, from The Senate, 1789-1989: Addresses on the History of the United States Senate (pdf).

Senate Chaplains

Name	Denomination	Date of Appointment	Note
Samuel Provoost, D.D.	Episcopalian	17890425Apr 25, 1789	First Bishop of New York
William White, D.D.	Episcopalian	17901209Dec 9, 1790	First Bishop of Pennsylvania
Thomas John Claggett, S.T.D., D.D.	Episcopalian	18001127Nov 27, 1800	First Bishop of Maryland
Edward Gantt, M.D.	Episcopalian	18011209Dec 9, 1801	–
Alexander Thomas McCormick	Episcopalian	18041107Nov 7, 1804	–
Edward Gantt, M.D.	Episcopalian	18051204Dec 4, 1805	–
John Johnson Sayrs	Episcopalian	18061203Dec 3, 1806	–
A.T. McCormick	Episcopalian	18071110Nov 10, 1807	On October 29, 1807, Edward Gantt was elected but declined to serve.
Robert Elliott	Presbyterian	18081110Nov 10, 1808	–
James Jones Wilmer	Episcopalian	18090524May 24, 1809	–
Obadiah Bruen Brown	Baptist	18091205Dec 5, 1809	–
Walter Dulaney Addison	Episcopalian	18101212Dec 12, 1810	–
John Brackenridge, D.D.	Presbyterian	18111113Nov 13, 1811	–
Jesse Lee	Methodist	18140927Sep 27, 1814	–
John Glendy	Presbyterian	18151208Dec 8, 1815	On December 6, 1816, John Glendie was elected but declined to serve.
Sereno Edward Dwight, D.D.	Congregationalist	18161216Dec 16, 1816	–
William Dickinson Hawley	Episcopalian	18171209Dec 9, 1817	–
John Clark	Presbyterian	18181119Nov 19, 1818	–
Reuben Post, D.D.	Presbyterian	18191209Dec 9, 1819	–
William Ryland	Methodist	18201117Nov 17, 1820	–
Charles Petit McIlvaine, D.D., LL.D., D.C.L.	Episcopalian	18221209Dec 9, 1822	–
William Staughton, D.D.	Baptist	18231210Dec 10, 1823	–
Charles Petit McIlvaine, D.D., LL.D., D.C.L.	Episcopalian	18241214Dec 14, 1824	–
William Staughton, D.D.	Baptist	18251212Dec 12, 1825	–
William Ryland	Methodist	18261208Dec 8, 1826	–
Henry Van Dyke Johns, D.D.	Episcopalian	18291214Dec 14, 1829	–
John Price Durbin, D.D., LL.D.	Methodist	18311219Dec 19, 1831	–
Charles Constantine Pise, D.D.	Roman Catholic	18321211Dec 11, 1832	–
Frederick Winslow Hatch, D.D.	Episcopalian	18331210Dec 10, 1833	–
Edward Young Higbee, D.D.	Episcopalian	18351223Dec 23, 1835	–
John Reinhard Goodman	Episcopalian	18361228Dec 28, 1836	–
Henry Slicer	Methodist	18370911Sep 11, 1837	–
George Grimston Cookman	Methodist	18391231Dec 31, 1839	–
Septimus Tustin, D.D.	Presbyterian	18410612Jun 12, 1841	–
Henry Slicer	Methodist	18461216Dec 16, 1846	–
Clement Moore Butler, D.D.	Episcopalian	18500109Jan 9, 1850	There being a tie vote (30 for Henry Slicer and 30 for C.M. Butler), Vice President Millard Fillmore voted for C.M. Butler and broke the tie.
Henry Slicer	Methodist	18531207Dec 7, 1853	–
Henry Clay Dean	Methodist	18551204Dec 4, 1855	–
Stephen P. Hill, D.D.	Baptist	18561208Dec 8, 1856	–
Phineas Densmore Gurley, D.D.	Presbyterian	18591215Dec 15, 1859	–
Byron Sunderland, D.D.	Presbyterian	18610710Jul 10, 1861	–
Thomas Bowman, LL.D.	Methodist	18640511May 11, 1864	–
Edgar Harkness Gray, D.D.	Baptist	18650309Mar 9, 1865	–
John Philip Newman, D.D.	Methodist	18690308Mar 8, 1869	–
Byron Sunderland, D.D.	Presbyterian	18731208Dec 8, 1873	–
Joseph J. Bullock, D.D.	Presbyterian	18790324Mar 24, 1879	–
Elias DeWitt Huntley, D.D., LL.D.	Methodist	18831218Dec 18, 1883	–
John George Butler, D.D., LL.D.	Lutheran	18860315Mar 15, 1886	–
William Henry Milburn, D.D.	Methodist	18930406Apr 6, 1893	W.H. Milburn resigned, because of ill health, on December 2, 1902, his resignation to take effect when the Senate elected a new chaplain. His letter stated that a friend would take his place until that time and from the records it would appear that F. J. Prettyman was the "friend." W.H. Milburn is listed as the official Senate chaplain until the election of F.J. Prettyman on November 23, 1903.
F.J. Prettyman, D.D.	Methodist	19031123Nov 23, 1903	–
Edward Everett Hale, D.D., LL.D.	Unitarian	19031214Dec 14, 1903	Died in office on June 10, 1909.
Ulysses Grant Baker Pierce, D.D., Ph.D.	Unitarian	19090618Jun 18, 1909	–
F. J. Prettyman, D.D.	Methodist	19130313Mar 13, 1913	–
Joseph Johnstone Muir, D.D.	Baptist	19210121Jan 21, 1921	–
ZeBarney Thorne Phillips, D.D., LL.D., Litt.D.	Episcopalian	19271205Dec 5, 1927	Died in office on May 10, 1942.
Frederick Brown Harris, D.D., LL.D., Litt.D.	Methodist	19421010Oct 10, 1942	–
Peter Marshall, D.D.	Presbyterian	19470104Jan 4, 1947	Died in office on January 24, 1949.
Frederick Brown Harris, D.D., LL.D., Litt.D.	Methodist	19490203Feb 3, 1949	–
Edward L.R. Elson, D.D., S.T.D., Litt.D., LL.D., L.H.D., D.Hum., D.Min.	Presbyterian	19690109Jan 9, 1969	–
Richard C. Halverson, D.D., LL.D.	Presbyterian	19810202February 2, 1981	–
Lloyd John Ogilvie, D.D.	Presbyterian	19950311Mar 11, 1995	–
Barry C. Black, Ph.D., D. Min., D.D.	Seventh-day Adventist	20030707July 7, 2003	–

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