While the U.S. Navy has rescinded a regulation that restricted chaplains from conducting public worship outside of Sunday chapels, an evangelical claims the military branch is firing him for violating that guideline.
A chaplain at the Naval Air Station in Norfolk, Lt. Gordon Klingenschmitt, has been ordered out of the Navy as of Jan. 31.
The Navy took steps to remove Klingenschmitt from duty after he resigned from the Evangelical Episcopal Church following his court-martial for praying in uniform in front of the White House last March.
However, Klingenschmitt argues that at the same time he resigned his ordination with the Episcopal group, he received the endorsement of the Dallas-based Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches.
Klingenschmitt said he prayed at the White House to protest the Navy's prohibition against publicly praying in Jesus' name, a regulation overturned last fall by congressional action.
His imminent discharge from the Navy led the Rutherford Institute to file a lawsuit in late October, about three weeks before Vice Admiral J.C. Harvey, Jr. sent a letter informing Klingenschmitt of its decision.
In outlining the Navy's decision, Vice Admiral Harvey said in his letter that a new endorsement does not automatically call for recertification. Evidence shows Klingenschmitt to be professionally unsuited for further service, Harvey said. He termed Klingenschmitt's recent performance unsatisfactory, noting below-average marks in an evaluation for military bearing and character. He also cited the chaplain's Sept. 14 court-martial for violating a superior officer's order and a lack of support from his community leader.