Prayers in the Storm: U.S. House Chaplain Reflects on Division and Hope

In this powerful interview transcript from episode 4,155 of Day1, our host Rev. Dr. Katie Givens Kime speaks with Rear Admiral Rev. Dr. Margaret Grun Kibben, Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives. Rev. Dr. Kibben reflects on her unique role in providing spiritual care to members of Congress, including on the historic day of January 6, 2021, which was only her third day on the job. As our nation continues to grapple with division and discord, Dr. Kibben offers a perspective rooted in faith, resilience, and the long-standing tradition of prayer within our government.

This interview provides a rare glimpse into the experience of a chaplain tasked with serving a "congregation" that represents a wide array of beliefs, values, and political perspectives. Through her reflections, Dr. Kibben encourages us to find hope and strength, even in challenging times. Below is the full transcript of this remarkable exchange. We invite you to watch the clip and hear her words directly.

 

 
 
Rev. Dr. Katie Givens Kime: We are in a time of national division spiritually, one could say. Is it true that your third day on the job as chaplain of the US House of Representatives was January 6th, 2021?

Rear Admiral Rev. Dr. Margaret Grun Kibben: You have that right, that was my third day on the job.

Rev. Dr. Katie Givens Kime: Third day on the job. Could you share from the perspective of someone who provided spiritual care to Capitol Police and to our legislators in that context, how do you see and have hope for the spirit of our country and healing our divisions?

Rear Admiral Rev. Dr. Margaret Grun Kibben: I have to say that the answer to that question starts 200 years before me, in as much as our country was founded on acrimony. We did not start off holding hands and singing kumbaya. And in fact, in 1774, before the Constitution, before the Declaration of Independence, our representatives in Philadelphia were having a hard time getting along. And it took one of the representatives there in Philadelphia to say, you know, we're probably best off if we start our days with prayer.

Now that's a whole story in itself and it really has a remarkable history to it. But I will say then that when the constitution was established in 1789, in May of 1789, the House, since 1789, the House has been opened every legislative day in prayer. The Senate since the last week in April of 1789. So for over 235 years, both of our legislative chambers have been opened in prayer. I share that because it has nothing to do with me, as really has nothing to do with being in 2021 or 2024. We have a history of not getting along. It might be slightly related to being human. I'll leave you to your own theological exploration there.

But that being said, when I took the job, now almost 4 years ago, it occurred to me that my responsibility, though many thought it was, was not to get everybody on the same sheet of music. It wasn't to bring unity into the House. It wasn't even to bring peace into the room as we as humans understand peace. But it's really to take the opportunity to appeal on their behalf, on those legislators' behalf to the divine. And as chaplain of the House, that is my main responsibility. So to open the House in prayer, I take that responsibility incredibly seriously, acknowledging that we're not all of the same faith tradition. We're certainly not of the same political bent. I often say they don't call them representatives for nothing. There are 435 very different people who serve our country here in this building, and another hundred on the other side of the building in the Senate. And they represent a whole host of beliefs, values, perspectives, opinions, faith traditions, all of these things. And my responsibility is somehow to be able to speak on their behalf.

So whether it was January 6th or whether it is today, I take that responsibility the same way. Now on that third day, obviously there was a great deal of contention going on. There were rumors that there were things that were going to be taking place that day when the votes came forward. And I had already, if you will, done my job for the day. I had already opened, officially, the House in prayer. Some would say it was a prophetic prayer because I did speak to this idea of acrimony and the division in our country. And if you can go back into the records, on January 6th, the legislative prayer speaks to that. But when the electoral college votes were being counted and it was a joint session – so both the Senate and the House were there – it was within minutes we realized that we were going to have some challenges with certain states.

When that happened, the Senate left the room and the House members were left in the House chambers to debate the Congress, those particular states that were in contention. It was within minutes of that second session, if you will, that divided part of the session, that we were told by the Capitol police that there had been an incursion into the building and that they, for our safety, were asking us to be prepared to evacuate the room, to put on breathing devices, and within seconds there was a great deal of melee in the chambers.

I was up in the center of the congregation, if you will, kind of like where I like to sit when I go to church, sort of on the aisle, basically in the middle so I can get a good picture of the pulpit. So I was there, but one of the clerks down on the floor in what they call the well, down closer to the rostrum, looked up at me and pointed his finger at me and waved me down and put his hands together in prayer as if to say, "Chaplain, come down here and get up on the rostrum and start praying." Totally out of order. I mean, this is not, it's not in the congressional record. You'll see nothing about this in the congressional record, but it was just somebody appealing to me.

I wear a collar here because I want to be identified as the chaplain. It's not a very Presbyterian thing to do, but it's an identifier and it's important at times like these. And so I did. Now, it was extemporaneous. I don't know that anybody really heard what I said, other than the poor soul who was actually recording it, should there ever be an investigation on January 6th.

Rev. Dr. Katie Givens Kime: Should that ever happen?!?

Rear Admiral Rev. Dr. Margaret Grun Kibben: Should that ever happen? But I will tell you that the two responses that have come back to me since then from members were, they thought either, "Okay, it's all right, the chaplain's praying, God is in the room," or the other reaction was, "Oh my God, this is like the Titanic, the chaplain is praying and the ship is going down."

We invite you to listen to this moving and insightful episode as Rear Admiral Rev. Dr. Margaret Grun Kibben shares more about her experience as chaplain, her insights on faith and resilience, and the role of prayer in our nation’s history.