Church And State Chaplain Of The U.S. Senate Predicts Spiritual Awakening In United States

With a resonant voice and rapt audience that any politician would envy, the chaplain of the U.S. Senate on Saturday predicted an end to the power of secularism.

“God has a strategic plan for this country,” said Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie. “I think we’re on the edge of a great and very exciting spiritual awakening that will make all previous awakenings in American history pale by comparison.”

Ogilvie was the guest speaker for 350 people at the annual Governor’s Prayer Luncheon. Earlier in the day, he spoke to 1,100 people at the Governor’s Prayer Breakfast in Boise.

The program bore the seal of the State of Idaho, and had the stamp of approval from a number of politicians. The opening convocation was given by Sen. Dirk Kempthorne, R-Idaho, who attends the Senate Bible studies that Ogilvie leads.

The closing prayer was given by Gus Johnson, mayor of Post Falls.

Members of the Legislature and Kootenai County Commission were in the audience. Former Rep. Ron Vieselmeyer was emcee.

On behalf of Gov. Phil Batt, Lt. Gov. Butch Otter was there for the three hours of Christian inspirational music, speeches and Bible readings.

As the Spokane River rolled by outside the window at Templin’s Resort, Ogilvie urged his listeners to be “riverbeds for the flow of his power.”

Citizens, he said, should pray for their leaders, including those with whom they disagree.

“From the extreme right and extreme left in this country comes a vitriolic judgmentalism,” he said. “We disagree. As a result, we clog up the prayer channels in America.”

Ogilvie quoted Martin Luther, who said that the best young people should not be preachers but politicians, who must exercise judgment “in the shadowy realms where uncertainty and ambiguity are the order of the day.”

Ogilvie has held the taxpayer-funded Senate chaplainship for two years. To get the job, he needed the recommendation of a bipartisan committee, a nomination by the majority leader, and election by the Senate.

After Saturday’s program Ogilvie explained that, while the position has always been filled by a Christian, it is non-sectarian.

He has arranged for visits from Catholic and Jewish spiritual leaders, he said.

“We have 12 Jewish senators,” Ogilvie said, noting the recent, first-ever Capitol Hill celebration of the Jewish feast of Seder.

“It’s an historical part of the American understanding of government that there is to be a separation of church and state,” he said.

But he added that the country’s founding fathers and mothers “never suggested that there be a separation of God and state … The great gifts of leadership are spiritual gifts: wisdom, discernment, knowledge.”

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