by Jorge Gomez • 2 minutes
The Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty (CALL) is supporting First Liberty’s client, Chaplain Rusty Trubey. He was threatened with punishment for preaching a sermon and is now being threatened with censorship by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
CALL recently sent a letter urging VA Secretary Doug Collins to ensure that Chaplain Trubey, and all chaplains, can fulfill their duties and express their religious beliefs without retribution.
“The Coatesville VA has punished Chaplain Russell Trubey for preaching according to the dictates of his sincere religious beliefs and those of his ecclesiastical endorsement,” the letter states. “Clearly, something must be done to stop this religious discrimination and blatant disregard for the Constitution before it goes too far.”
“We thank CALL for sending this important letter supporting Chaplain Trubey and the religious freedom of all chaplains,” said Erin Smith, Associate Counsel at First Liberty. “Their letter correctly points out that the VA’s actions put all VA chaplains in danger of losing their endorsement or being forced out of the chaplaincy altogether.”
Chaplain Trubey is an Army Reserve chaplain, veteran and former missionary who has served the veterans of the Coatesville VA Medical Center in Pennsylvania for the last 10 years.
In June 2024, as part of his normal duties, Trubey led a Protestant worship service in the hospital’s chapel, where he preached a sermon from the first chapter of Romans. The VA, however, threatened to punish him for preaching that sermon. An onsite VA officer approached Trubey and informed him there were complaints about the content.
Trubey’s supervisor said that Romans was a “very charged and divisive text,” and asked him to “write out any extemporaneous lines that (he) might have said that others might have found offensive.”
What’s more, Chaplain Trubey was removed from his duties and reassigned to logistics in the hospital stocking shelves. He was investigated for several months and threatened with a reprimand on his permanent record. After receiving our Letter of Representation, the VA facility rescinded this proposed reprimand and restored Chaplain Trubey to his chaplain duties.
But Chaplain Trubey’s religious speech is still under attack. His supervisor is trying to implement a discriminatory policy to review sermons, limit what chaplains can preach and decide what content is “objectionable.”
First Liberty and the Independence Law Center sent a letter asking the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs to take immediate action and eliminate the speech code being imposed.
“The government has no business censoring anyone’s sermon, including military chaplains,” Smith explains. “This is just the kind of woke policy that we anticipate Secretary Collins wants to purge from the VA.”
Secretary Collins has an opportunity not only to correct the wrongful actions against Chaplain Trubey, but also to ensure that ALL chaplains are free to share their faith and provide spiritual strength to our service members and veterans.
“If the actions taken by the Coatesville VA are allowed to continue, unimpeded, these sorts of policies could be implemented nationwide, across VA hospitals,” CALL warns in its letter. “This could not only impact the religious freedom and liberty rights of individual chaplains but could also destroy the entire VA chaplaincy.”
Chaplains shouldn’t be punished for carrying out their religious mission and duties. They should be free to preach according to their religious convictions and denominational teachings without fear of censorship, retribution or retaliation. This is exactly what the U.S. Constitution and federal law demand, and it’s what the veterans at the Coatesville VA deserve.
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