A Message from the Rev. Stephen Boyd, United Church of Christ Ecclesiastical Endorser for Government Chaplaincy — March 2026 Featured COMma Article

As I sit down to write this, we are in day-four of the engagement with Iran. And, as of this writing, none of our UCC military chaplains have been deployed to the Middle East. However, that is a possibility that they all live with: day in and day out. And for that reason, it is so critical that the Committee on Ministry, and I as the ecclesiastical endorser, do the work to endorse government chaplains with care and integrity.

I came to this position in August of 2011 after 24 years in the Local Church and serving in the Army for over 32 years. During my military career, I had several assignments including three years at the Pentagon in the Army Chief of Chaplains Office.

To serve as a chaplain in the military, the Veterans Health System and the Federal Prison Bureau, the clergyperson must be ordained and secure government endorsement by the denomination that they represent.  Endorsement indicates to the hiring body that, in this case, the United Church of Christ stands with and behind the minister theologically and ethically. Therefore, it is important that the Committee on Ministry knows the clergyperson and supports them in considering these highly specialized ministerial settings.

The process of government endorsement is outlined in Manual on Ministry 2018 Article 5. However, there is much more to the process than checking the boxes and I begin working with the clergyperson from the beginning of the process. It is important that I have an ongoing relationship with them as I am the person who signs the endorsement.  In addition to compiling the required file, I ask that the Committee look at the qualifications of the candidate to determine if they have the gifts and talents to minister in these demanding settings. This may include offering specific questions to the Committee which I expect the clergyperson to be able to answer, revealing even a bit more of themselves.

Rev. John Gundlach, my predecessor, a career Navy chaplain and the UCC ecclesiastical endorser for ten years, was aware of the demands of these settings and had established standards and criteria that he believed were essential for our UCC chaplains who chose to minister in these challenging settings.

Some years later, in 2005-2006 I was deployed to Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar. I went with many years of experience as an Army chaplain and yet found myself in the very demanding ministry setting of a combat zone. I had to quickly become aware of the issues and the time restraints of a very fluid and changing ministry setting. In this setting, I realized and experienced Rev. Gundlach’s insistence on certain values and standards.

With our combined years of military experience, I understood what he thought was essential. And working with Committees on Ministry these past 14-plus years, we have been able to maintain those standards.

It is important that we are sure that the clergyperson can minister in these government settings.  Whether it is the military, the VA Health System or the Federal Prison Bureau, we meet people in some of the most vulnerable and difficult moments in their lives: this ministry is an awesome responsibility.