wfn.org | Lutherans Honor James Ford, Chaplain Emeritus of U.S. House

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 8, 2000

LUTHERANS HONOR JAMES FORD, CHAPLAIN EMERITUS OF U.S. HOUSE
00-127-FI

     WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- The Rev. James D. Ford, chaplain
emeritus of the U.S. House of Representatives, and a pastor of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was honored May 3 at the
Capitol with a breakfast attended by about 70 church and political
leaders.
     "It's been an exciting ministry in its own way, with its own
challenges.  It's time to retire, and in many ways I don't want to
retire ... such interesting things to do, so many interesting people,"
said Ford.
     "As you grow older you appreciate the lay people even more.  You
trust them.  You can't tell them what to do, in terms of their jobs, but
you salute them and what they do.  It's been a wonderful life," he said.
     Ford and his wife, Marcia Ruth Sodergren Ford, are the parents of
four daughters and a son.
     A graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minn., and
Augustana Theological Seminary, Rock Island, Ill., Ford was ordained in
1958 in the former Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church.  He served as
pastor of Bethany Elim Lutheran Church, Ivanhoe, Minn. -- a rural town
of 719 residents, he said.
     "I started out as a parish pastor in Ivanhoe, Minn.  I was there
two and a half years," said Ford.  "I was within 80 miles of where my
father and grandfather had started out, and even in my wife's family --
her brother, father, grandfather and great-grandfather were Lutheran
pastors, and many of us lived in Minnesota."
     Ford was named assistant chaplain, Cadet Chapel, United States
Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in 1961 and senior chaplain in
1965.  He became chaplain of the U.S. House in January 1979.
     Ford told the breakfast gathering that the military academy had
trained him well for Congress.  "Chasing sin in Washington is nothing
after the cadets at West Point," he joked.
     "Congress is a different place" than it was in 1979, Ford said
later.  "America is a different place."
     "Across the country there is a lessening of loyalties toward
institutions," said Ford.  "You have people moving from denomination to
denomination without much problem," he said.  "The same with politics --
members of Congress, to a great extent, are entrepreneurs in direct
contact with their constituents" and are less concerned about the party
line.
     Some changes are positive, said Ford.  The number of women and
members of U.S. racial minorities has grown in Congress, he said.  Even
the military academy at West Point began including women when he was
there.
     During the first days of the Continental Congress there was a
debate about the need for prayer, because of "the grave responsibilities
before the delegates," said Ford.  There was a concern about the many
religious backgrounds of the delegates, but it was decided that "we can
gather together under 'God loves us all.'  They had the opening prayer,
and since then we had a chaplain," he said.
     "The job has grown," Ford acknowledged, beyond "the more
conspicuous aspects of the job ... prayers or invocations around town,
special events, ceremonies."  Now, he said, most of the chaplain's time
is spent "counseling, talking with people about their problems."
     The Rev. Daniel P. Coughlin, 65, a Roman Catholic priest from
Chicago was sworn in as chaplain of the U.S. House in March.
     "I don't give him advice," said Ford.  "One of the smartest things
to do, when you leave something -- you leave," he said.  "He'll do well,
I'm sure."
     "Chaplains have a unique opportunity, and I'd include all
pastors," Ford said.  "We're the only people among the so-called mental
health professionals ... that can go out where people live and where
they work and see them in that way," he said.  "Psychiatrists,
psychologists, counselors are in their offices, and people are referred
to them or they meet people and they come to an office."
     "It's easy as chaplain here to walk up to someone and say, 'How
you doing?'  You can walk on the floor, you can go to their offices, you
go to their parties, you go to their events and you can be with them in
that way," said Ford.  "The same for chaplains in the military ... you
can be with your people wherever they are and see what they do in their
daily lives," he said.
     "That's what I tried to do here over my 21 years -- come early,
stay late, see what people do and get to know them," said Ford.  "When
they get to know you on a lesser plane, then they'll get to know you
when they have a serious concern.  They'll feel free to call on you."
     The Rev. Theodore F. Schneider, bishop of the ELCA's Metropolitan
Washington, D.C., Synod, opened and closed the breakfast with prayers.
     Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif. 22nd), Rep. David Minge (D-Minn. 2nd),
Rep. Thomas E. Petri (R-Wis. 6th) and Rep. Martin Olav Sabo (D-Minn.
5th), members of the ELCA; Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-Ill. 20th), a member
of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod; Rep. Amory Houghton Jr. (R-N.Y.
31st), a member of The Episcopal Church; Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.), a
member of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.),
a member of the Roman Catholic Church, attended the breakfast.  Several
other members of Congress stopped to offer their best wishes.
     Bruce Nicholson, president and CEO of Lutheran Brotherhood, a
fraternal benefits society based in Minneapolis, reminded the group of
Jesus Christ's command to "bear one another's burdens."  He said that's
what Ford has been doing for "the people he has served here in Congress
and otherwise."
     The Luther Institute of Washington, D.C., sponsored the breakfast
with financial support from Lutheran Brotherhood.  The institute fosters
education and research on social, educational and ethical issues in the
public sphere and encourages service to church and society.
     The Former Members' Association of Congress will present Ford with
its "Man of the Year Award" the morning of May 17 at the Capitol.  Ford
joked that the honor was meant "to keep me quiet and not to write that
book."

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