WASHINGTON—The Armed Forces Chaplaincy Board has approved the Baptist General Convention of Texas as a “recognized endorsing agency for chaplains. As a result, BGCT is poised to begin endorsing chaplains for the first time.
The board unanimously approved the state Baptist convention in its regular July 24 meeting, said Bobby Smith, director of the BGCT’s Office of Chaplaincy Relations.
Since other federal agencies and nongovernment entities typically follow the Department of Defense’s lead, Smith said they are expected to recognize BGCT as an endorsing agency, as well.
Thirty-one people already have completed the necessary paperwork in order to be considered for endorsement by the BGCT when it’s Chaplaincy Endorsement Board meets in August or September, Smith said. Other applications are in process.
Smith listed three reasons why the BGCT desired to begin endorsing chaplains.
“We want to offer people an up-close and personal relationship –based endorsement,” he said the kind of relationship that doesn’t exist with large endorsement agencies.
Second, there are chaplains “who do not wish to sign” the 2000 version of the Baptist Faith and Message statement, which is now required by SBC North American Mission Board. NAMB will not endorse women chaplains who have been ordained.
Three federal agencies utilize ordained chaplains –the Department of Defense, the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Veterans Administration, Smith said. Many other institutions have the same ordination requirement.
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