From WND-Throughout the years, the United States Senate has honored the historic separation of Church and State, but not the separation of God and State. … The first Senate, meeting in New York City on APRIL 25, 1789, elected the Right Reverend Samuel Provost, the Episcopal Bishop of New York, as its first Chaplain. … During the past two hundred and seven years, all sessions of the Senate have been opened with prayer, strongly affirming the Senate’s faith in God as Sovereign Lord of our Nation.”
This was a continuation of the practice of the Continental Congress during the Revolution, as Ben Franklin remarked in 1787: “In the beginning of the Contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for Divine protection.”
On April 9, 1789, only nine days after the first Constitutional Congress convened with a quorum, the House of Representatives and the Senate approved having chaplains open every session with prayer, paying them a salary of $500 each.
On April 15, 1789, a Committee of Congress, composed of Richard Henry Lee, Oliver Ellsworth, Caleb Strong, William Maclay, and Richard Bassett recommended: “That two chaplains, of different denominations, be appointed … the Senate to appoint one, and … the House of Representatives … shall … appoint the other … Chaplains shall commence their services in the Houses that appoint them.”
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