Speaker Mike Johnson pushing to replace House chaplain

by | Jan 13, 2025 | Religion

WASHINGTON (RNS) — House Speaker Mike Johnson has launched an effort to select a new House chaplain, working with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on a framework to select a new person to fill the post just days after the current chaplain offered a Jan. 6 prayer asking God to help lawmakers defend against “enemies within.”
Punchbowl News first reported the potential change last week, citing unnamed sources and noting the current chaplain, the Rev. Margaret Kibben, is now listed as “acting chaplain.” Johnson’s office confirmed to Religion News Service on Sunday (Jan. 12) that the speaker is moving to find a new chaplain and that he is working with the minority leader to develop a process. The office did not provide a reason for why Johnson is seeking a new House chaplain.
Nor did Johnson’s office respond to requests to confirm another piece of Punchbowl’s reporting — namely, that Johnson, a conservative Southern Baptist, is allegedly considering Becky Tirabassi, a nondenominational Christian and co-pastor of Viewpoint Church in Newport Beach, Calif., as the new chaplain. Tirabassi pastors the church with her husband, Roger Tirabassi.

Tirabassi, who served as a guest House chaplain in 2017, did not immediately respond to efforts to confirm the report, but she would be a shift for a position that has most recently been filled by clergy with a background in formal chaplaincy, which typically requires training in how to work with peo …

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