Methodists and the Origins of Endorsement of Protestant Military Chaplains
The first Methodist endorsements took place in 1906 when Bishop Earl Cranston of the Methodist Episcopal Church asked for permission to review qualifications of applicants from his church for the chaplaincy. The Catholic and Episcopal churches had already received similar authorities, and President Theodore Roosevelt granted it to the Methodist Episcopal Church as well. The Federal Council of Churches was formed in 1908. Among its three-dozen denominations were the three Methodist bodies which would later form the Methodist Church. The General Committee on Army and Navy Chaplains of the Federal Council began endorsing applicants for military chaplaincy in 1917 as the United States prepared to enter World War I. Bishop William F. McDowell of the Washington Area served as its chairman and Dr. E. O. Watson, a member of the South Carolina Conference, served as its secretary. Bishop McDowell reviewed applications on behalf of the Methodist Episcopal Church with the assistance of Dr. Joh...