May 27, 2002
Baptist head of VA chaplains endorsed by CBF
___HAMPTON, Va. (ABP)--The first Southern Baptist ever to oversee chaplain work for Veterans Affairs hospitals nationwide has received endorsement by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
___Jeni Cook, who in 1999 became both the first Southern Baptist and the first woman to head the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Chaplain Center, is among 55 new chaplains and pastoral counselors endorsed by the Atlanta-based CBF.
___The new class of pastoral counselors and chaplains--serving in hospitals, hospices, the military, prisons, businesses and professional organizations--brings the total of CBF endorsees to 219, topping 200 for the first time. The CBF started endorsing chaplains in 1998.
___Cook, an ordained minister, previously was endorsed as a chaplain by the Southern Baptist Convention. The SBC North American Mission Board decided in February that it no longer would endorse women who are ordained.
___NAMB officials attributed the policy change to a desire to be consistent with the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message, which limits the office of pastor to men. While the faith statement doesn't mention ordination, NAMB leaders said most Southern Baptist churches view ordination as an act reserved for senior pastors and not for church staff and other non-pastors.
___Since the NAMB policy change, the number of chaplains and pastoral counselors seeking CBF endorsement has increased. Also, the policy change spurred the Baptist General Convention of Texas to become an endorsing agency for chaplains and pastoral counselors.
___Cook has worked in the VA system 17 years, including 14 with the North Texas Health Care System in Dallas. She was appointed to her current job in 1999 by Secretary Togo West and reappointed in 2001 by Secretary Anthony Principi.
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