Article 1, Section 1 of the Constitution provides that “[T]he House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers.” One of the many tasks that the House of Representatives addressed in the opening months of the 1st Congress was the election of the Chaplain as an Officer of the House. It would be the Chaplain’s duty to open the sessions of the House with prayer, following the tradition established by the Continental Congress to have the proceedings of each day opened by prayer to “[O]ur Lord our heavenly father, high and mighty, King of kings and Lord of lords…” On 1 May 1789, the House elected the Reverend William Linn, a Presbyterian minister who had served as a chaplain in the Continental Army, as Chaplain of the House of Representatives.

There have been fifty-nine Chaplains to serve in the House of Representatives from a wide range of denominational backgrounds, including Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Episcopalian, Congregationalist, Unitarian, Disciples of Christ, Universalist, Christian, and Roman Catholic. In addition to offering the prayer at the opening of each session, the Chaplain’s duties also include scheduling the guest chaplains, providing counseling for Members of the House of Representatives and their families, and, in the past, performing marriage and funeral ceremonies for Members of the House.

During the 97th Congress, the Supreme Court held that employment of a chaplain for the legislative body of Nebraska did not violate the Establishment Clause of the first amendment to the Constitution. Marsh v. Chambers, 463 U.S. 783 (1983). The Court of Appeals cited the Marsh decision as controlling authority in a similar challenge to the House Chaplain. Murray v. Buchanan, 729 F.2d 689 (D.C. Cir. 1983). The House adopted a privileged resolution articulating its position in the Murray case. (H. Res. 413, Mar. 30, 1982, p. 5890).

Regardless of the Supreme Court’s supposed claim of jurisdiction, it is the Constitution itself that allows for the House to decide whether or not to have a chaplain. As Article I, Section 5 says, “Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings….”