WASHINGTON Navy man will be Senate chaplain

The former chief of chaplains in the Navy is turning to a new flock.
WASHINGTON POST
WASHINGTON -- The Rev. Barry Black has spent a lifetime listening.
For a quarter-century, and most recently as the U.S. Navy's chief of chaplains, the Rev. Mr. Black has led interfaith services on aircraft carriers and destroyers and counseled sailors, Marines and Coast Guard personnel on spiritual and personal matters.
Now, after retirement from the military Aug. 15, the rear admiral is set to become spiritual counselor to power constituents of a different sort: members of the U.S. Senate.
The prospect of serving Congress excites him in a way that professorships, university presidencies and other post-retirement jobs offered him did not, Mr. Black said during an interview at his office in the Navy Annex in suburban Arlington, Va.
"I was elated when the opportunity to provide ministry there came available," said Mr. Black, 54, who loves the pluralistic religious environment of the military and sees a parallel in the multifaith makeup on Capitol Hill. "It was a no-brainer for me."
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., named Mr. Black as 62nd Senate chaplain -- the first black and the first Seventh-day Adventist to be appointed chaplain in either house of Congress.
It's been a long journey from his childhood in Baltimore, where he lived in subsidized housing with his mother and seven siblings. But in some ways, Mr. Black said, he has come full circle.
His mother, a devout Adventist, told him he tried to preach before he could speak. By 9, he was listening to records and memorizing the sermons of Scottish-born Presbyterian minister Peter Marshall, Senate chaplain from 1947 to 1949, who was the subject of the popular 1950s book and movie "A Man Called Peter."
His reputation
During an interview, Mr. Black suddenly broke into a Scottish burr and recited the beginning of the Rev. Mr. Marshall's famous sermon based on the Negro spiritual "Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord)?"
Mr. Black has developed a reputation as a powerful preacher in his own right, infusing his sermons with detail, emotion and erudition. Conversations are filled with biblical citations from the New Testament and Psalms and quotes from such writers as Alfred Lord Tennyson, Henry David Thoreau and Kahlil Gibran.
Mr. Black brings to his Senate job an impressive academic record: master's degrees in divinity, counseling and management, and doctorates in ministry and psychology. His wife, Brenda, teaches college English and is completing a doctorate in American studies at the College of William and Mary. They have three sons, ages 25, 20 and 14.
Mr. Black said his position probably will make him the highest-profile Seventh-day Adventist, a denomination that he acknowledged is relatively unknown and often misunderstood. There are 13 million adherents worldwide.
The church, based in suburban Silver Spring, Md., formed in the 19th century after failed predictions by revivalist William Miller of Jesus' imminent return. Perhaps its most distinctive feature is adherence to the "biblical Sabbath," marking the day of rest from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.
His religion
Members also follow Old Testament dietary restrictions, which include no shellfish or pork, and are encouraged to be vegetarians. Smoking and the drinking of alcohol are not condoned.
Mr. Black said that Adventist restrictions about working on the Sabbath have never affected his role as a chaplain. Pastors, health care providers, emergency personnel and others whose job is "to alleviate suffering" -- spiritual and physical -- can work Saturdays.
The Senate chaplain's most visible duty is opening each session with a prayer -- or providing a guest chaplain to do it -- and Mr. Black said he would follow Ogilvie, his predecessor, in using such general terms as Lord and God to address the deity and closing with such phrases as "in Your name" rather than "in Christ's name."
"There are ways of doing it creatively, of offering inclusive prayers" that don't offend people from various religious backgrounds and make everyone feel blessed by God, Mr. Black said.