Chaplain (Col) Timothy Wagoner made headlines when he “supportively” attended a homosexual “commitment ceremony” at McGuire AFB.  He made headlines again when his endorsing agency publicly clarified that they continued to oppose homosexuality and semblances of homosexual “unions.”  For his part, Chaplain Wagoner noted he was quoted out of context and in such a way as to imply he “condoned” the ceremony, when in fact he did not.

Now, Chaplain Wagoner has informed his endorsing agency that he is leaving the Southern Baptist Convention:

“If an SBC chaplain concludes he cannot conduct his ministry in harmony with SBC beliefs and doctrine, then it is best to part ways,” Ezell said.

Wagoner notified NAMB of his decision July 19.

The article accurately notes military chaplains require an ecclesiastical endorsement; the loss of an endorsement results in processing for discharge from the military.  In fact, that’s precisely how the Navy discharged Chaplain (Lt) Gordon Klingenschmitt a few years ago.  He had switched endorsers, and the military refused to process the new endorsing agency.

Given the sensitivity of the subject, it is likely Chaplain Wagoner will easily find a new endorsing agency if he wants one; and it is likely the military will accept it.

Representatives of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy — a group that worked for repeal of DADT — had criticized the Baptist response, claiming the SBC was “bullying” the chaplain for whom they were responsible:

[They] accused the Southern Baptist Convention of bullying and intimidation for asking an Air Force chaplain to explain his presence at the first publicly announced gay civil union…to take place at an American military installation.

The Forum went a step further, saying Chaplain Wagoner’s presence was required:

Col. Paul Dodd, a retired Southern Baptist Army chaplain who co-chairs the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy, said Wagoner should not have to apologize. Dodd…said Wagoner “would have been derelict in his duty” to not attend such a newsworthy and important event…

Dodd said in a telephone interview “the very idea” of NAMB leaders going after a chaplain for carrying out his sworn duties is “outrageous.”

For a former chaplain, Dodd certainly has his facts askew.  “Newsworthiness” is not the standard by which chaplains’ religious duties are determined.  Chaplains are required to hold to the tenets of the endorsing agencies under whose authority they serve — not a changing agenda based on external pressures.  In fact, the importance of an endorsing agency in the military chaplaincy is precisely why an organization like the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty — which is made up of endorsers sending some 2,000 chaplains into the US military — has such sway.

Given that the SBC “sends” Chaplain Wagoner to the military, the SBC follow-up to the AP article is not only reasonable, it is expected.  Chaplain Dodd’s response, on the other hand, reveals a political — not religious — motivation.

The fact that Dodd would consider it a “sworn duty” for a chaplain to attend a homosexual ceremony that contravened his religious views reveals a bit of the cultural and political pressure that exists even within the military to not only accept but also support the homosexual lifestyle — regardless of one’s religious or moral beliefs.