The designated House and Senate chaplains typically work anonymously outside the halls of Congress. But during the 2013 government shutdown, Senate Chaplain Barry Black’s artful and unapologetic public scoldings of lawmakers for their intransigence captivated the nation and made him an instant hero with many Americans. His actions even led to a sympathetic parody on “Saturday Night Live.”
Yet despite his public admonishments of lawmakers — or maybe partly because of it — Black, with his silky baritone voice, is a highly respected, beloved and sought-out member of the Senate community. Before arriving on Capitol Hill in 2003, the Seventh-day Adventist pastor enjoyed a long and distinguished career in the Navy, rising to the rank of rear admiral.
Black, 66, spoke recently with the Washington Examiner about his role as the Senate’s spiritual adviser, the relevancy of his post, the delicate balance between church and state and his penchant for colorful bow ties. The following is a lightly edited version of the conversation.
Examiner: Why is it important for the U.S. Senate to have a chaplain?
Black: I think that the Framers wanted a spiritual dimension to government. They were very religious people and so one of the first acts of the new Congress was to have a chaplain. … Even during the Constitutional Convention they felt the need for prayer. Benjamin Franklin made his famous observation that “If a sparrow cannot fall without God knowing it [then] a republic probably cannot rise without his aid,” and suggested in 1787 at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia that they pray. So I think we had spiritual Founders who knew that prayer would be a critical part in the success of this experiment in democracy.
Examiner: But we also have in the United States this long tradition of separating church and state. So how can a prayer before the opening of Congress every day be justified?
Black: One of the reasons it can be justified is that it is not a breach of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution. The Establishment Clause was actually written after the [Senate] chaplaincy was established. So the statement “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of a religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” that statement is often used by those who would challenge the constitutionality of legislative prayer. But it is obvious that — because [legislative] prayer predates the Establishment Clause and continued almost uninterrupted subsequent to the Establishment Clause — the Framers did not think that legislative prayer means a breach of the Establishment Clause. And the Marsh v. Chambers’ 1983 Supreme Court decision makes that basic case.
Examiner: As Senate chaplain you’re responsible for saying the prayer that opens each daily session of the chamber. But beyond those couple of minutes, what does a Senate chaplain do?
Black: So many of the people who work on Capitol Hill are away from home, and even as we have chaplains to serve our troops who are away doing the work of government in terms of protecting government and protecting the nation, we have a pastor for the senators, the members of their families, the staffers and the members of their families. So I’m a pastor in the same way that a local church pastor would be — I provide counseling, I do workspace visitations, I do hospital visitations. I’ve been with senators on their deathbed and prayed, and the last voice that some of them heard was my voice. So you are there for these lawmakers and the members of their families and the staffers providing them with the pastoral support they deserve and need.
Examiner: Do senators ask you for advice or spiritual guidance?
Black: The senators see me regularly. … Almost every issue debated in the chamber has an ethical dimension, so they are interested in what is the right thing to do, particularly because so many of the issues that they grapple with are right vs. wrong conundrums. So yes, they ask me questions and they want my honest feedback on what I think about a particular issue. During the [Terri] Schiavo case [that debated the legality of life support ], for instance, the majority leader, Dr. Bill Frist, called me into his office and said, “Chaps, what is the biomedical ethical slant on the Schiavo case?” And I needed to be — and was — prepared to talk to him very candidly about that.
Examiner: Do you tailor your daily prayers so that they have a connection with the Senate’s business at hand?
Black: My prayers come out of the overflow of my pastoral outreach, because I’m an intercessor. And so I’m not just talking about what I’m interested in, but I’m talking about what the people whom I’m serving are interested in. So if we are facing an impending federal shutdown and my prayer was [about] Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz and reflected a Pollyanna reality instead of what is actually going on, I would be disconnected from the environment. So my prayers reflect what our lawmakers are concerned about, what staffers are concerned about — many times what the American people are concerned about. And the most important aspect of it is to ensure that we receive the help from above that we need to keep this nation strong.
Examiner: Your opening prayers during the 2013 government shutdown became legendary. You didn’t seem to be afraid to take senators to task. During your prayers you asked God to “save us from the madness,” and to “deliver us from the hypocrisy of attempting to sound reasonable while being unreasonable.” Do you feel it’s your responsibility to call out lawmakers when maybe you think they’re behaving badly?
Black: Paul said in his letter to the church at Ephesus to “speak the truth in love.” And I believe that my prayers speak the truth in love. I try to make sure that they’re nonpartisan. In other words, I never say anything in my prayer that you couldn’t say, yep, [that covers] both sides. I don’t want to ever say something [that people say], “He’s talking about the Republicans, he’s talking about the Democrats.” Deliver us from the hypocrisy from attempting to sound reasonable while being unreasonable — hey, there’s plenty of room for that, and no one can say that that’s an indictment of any one side.
Examiner: Do you think they listened?
Black: I received feedback from the lawmakers that the prayers really made a difference, that it causes them to think. And even if they weren’t listening, quite frankly, the most important thing is, is God listening? And I am trying to move the arm of the transcendent.
Examiner: You also got a lot of public attention from your prayers during the government shutdown, including being parodied on “Saturday Night Live.” How do you feel about that?
Black: I was very pleased with Kenan Thompson’s parody because it finally gave me credibility points with my three sons. I’ve been working on that for a long time. This is the first thing that has happened to me that seems to have impressed them, so that’s the primary reason why I’m excited about it.
Examiner: Before coming to the Senate you served for more than 27 years as a Navy chaplain, rising to the rank of rear admiral and chief of chaplains before retiring from the service in 2003. How do you think your military experience influences you as a chaplain?
Black: My military experience has helped to influence my legislative chaplaincy work because it trained me to provide ministry in the pluralistic environment of religious diversity. What I do here in the Senate involves not only different Christian denominations but different religions — Hindu, Buddhist, Islam — and that happens in the military. My military experience also taught me how to interact with significant leaders, reach four-star admirals. Well, senators are pretty important people also, so that was a marvelous training. And then I had an advisory function to the secretary of defense, secretary of the Navy, commandants of the Marine Corps and Coast Guard, as well as the chief of naval operations, and would even preach at Camp David and have lunch with the president. That was a good background and very good experience and training for what I’m doing here on Capitol Hill.
Examiner: Tell me about the path you took to become Senate chaplain. I believe former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist recommended you?
Black: The way a Senate chaplain is selected is, a senator nominates clergy persons — ministers, priests, rabbis, I think even an imam may have been interviewed — these people are interviewed by an eight-member Senate selection committee. The first group is then vetted and whittled down to about 10 people who go through a second round of interviews. That group is vetted and the two finalists are interviewed by the majority leader, and he makes the final decision.
Examiner: You’ve been the Senate chaplain now for 11 years. Is the Senate getting more religious, less religious? Do you see any changes in religious attitudes among the senators?
Black: I think our lawmakers reflect our nation. They’re selected from the people and they represent the people. And I think as America becomes more secular there’s a great probability that senators and the chaplains of the Senate become a little more secular. I think there is something about being in the Senate where you need 60 votes to really get a lot accomplished that will create a sense of frustration at times that will actually contribute to your spiritual growth and development. It will certainly help you to develop patience.
Examiner: Do you feel you make a difference here?
Black: There’s a wonderful Bible verse, Genesis 8:22, that says, “As long as time shall last, there will always be summer and winter, seed time and harvests.” I’m planting seeds. And I get feedback now from people who knew me 20, 25, 30 years ago in my Navy world. And the conversation usually is, “Adm. Black, you don’t know me but my wife and I came to you because we were having marital problems, blah blah blah,” and I see the harvest coming in. So yes, I am making a difference because of ineluctable law — the unstoppable, the inevitable law — of sowing and reaping.
Examiner: You’re quite well known for your collection of colorful bow ties. How did this interest in neckwear come about?
Black: I became interested in bow ties when, in my travels to give sermons and speeches, I would be missed at the airport. The guy who came to pick me up or the women who came to pick me up would be looking around [for me]. And so I finally solved that problem by saying “I’ll be the guy in the bow tie.” I had never worn bow ties before I came to the Senate, so I had to go online and learn how to tie one. … And it had become a signature look, so much so that when I’m not in one I get pushback; [people say], “Hey, wait a minute, that’s not my chaplain.” So it turned out to be something that I’ve come to enjoy.
Examiner: How much longer do you expect to serve as Senate chaplain?
Black: My job in the Senate chaplaincy is an open-ended appointment, and I just on a daily basis try to take my signal from heaven. So as long as God says “Stay here,” I’m here for the duration. And when he says punch out, I’m ready to punch out. And that’s pretty much the way I’ve tried to live my life.
