American Council of Christian Churches
77th Annual Convention, October 23-25, 2018
Bible Presbyterian Church of Collingswood, NJ
During the Revolutionary War General George Washington called for and then the Continental Congress provided chaplains to enable soldiers to practice the free exercise of religion. Subsequently, the courts have held that the Free Exercise Clause of the United States Constitution “obligates Congress, upon creating an Army, to make religion available to soldiers who have been moved to areas of the world where religion of their own denominations is not available to them.”[1] The chaplaincy is therefore necessary to provide servicemen with the ability to worship in accord with their own religious denomination. The American Council of Christian Churches (ACCC) has served as a chaplain endorsing agency for over seventy years, with its chaplains faithfully ministering for decades.
Since 2002 Floyd “Chet” Chapman has faithfully served as the ACCC’s chaplain endorser, having retired as a Lt. Colonel after twenty-three years as an Army chaplain. Chet became our endorser following the death of his predecessor, Dr. Harold Haines. The only help Chet received in learning his new duties was a box of chaplain related materials belonging to Dr. Haines. Despite this challenge, Chet well learned and executed his responsibility as our chaplain endorser.
Chet’s faithfulness as our chaplain endorser is evident through his work with chaplain applicants, counseling and encouraging our endorsed chaplains, and communicating to us our chaplains’ ministry for prayer and support. Great wisdom, discernment, and perseverance are required in evaluating potential chaplains, and Chet has demonstrated such. Knowing how to counsel chaplains experiencing great pressures is the result of Chet’s faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ and his own chaplaincy career. Though there are chaplains who serve merely for temporal, monetary ends, Chet thankfully testifies that ACCC chaplains have been men who have “stayed by the stuff,” never doubting the purity of their ministry.
Chet readily attests that the effectiveness of his ministry has been because of his faithful wife Gail. She has experienced much alongside Chet, and wonderfully helped and complemented his ministry. Therefore, the American Council of Christian Churches at its 77th annual convention, October 23-25, 2018, at Bible Presbyterian Church in Collingswood, NJ, gratefully thanks the Lord for the ministry of Chet Chapman as our chaplain endorser. By God’s grace he has demonstrated grace, wisdom, tact, and tenacity. He has faithfully served our chaplains, our Council, and our constituency because he has faithfully served the Lord Jesus Christ.
[1] Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Katkoff v. Marsh (755 F.2d 223, 1985), quoted in Maj. Michael J. Benjamin, “Justice, Justice You Shall Pursue: Legal Analysis of Religion Issues in the Army,” The Army Lawyer, Judge Advocate General’s School, (Nov. 1998), 3-4.
