President-elect Donald Trump has nominated a former Southern Baptist pastor to be the next head of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
A native of Gainesville, Ga., Doug Collins was senior pastor of Chicopee Baptist Church from November 1994 through October 2005, according to the church’s annual church profile reporting. He also served as chaplain for Chattahoochee Baptist Association and earned his Master of Divinity degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife Lisa are members of Lakewood Baptist Church in Gainesville.
Collins is a North American Mission Board-endorsed Southern Baptist chaplain in the Air Force Reserves, serving in that role since 2002. He had served two years as a Navy chaplain before joining the Air Force after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He remains active with the Air Force Reserves, which included a 2008-09 deployment to Iraq.
“I am grateful for people of faith, like Doug, who have sacrificially served our country and continue to do so when the nation calls upon them,” said Maj. Gen. (retired) Doug Carver, executive director of chaplaincy and federal endorser for the North American Mission Board.
“Caring for our nation’s veterans and for their families, caregivers, and survivors is an extremely noble calling. I will be praying for him as he takes on this important leadership role.”
Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. Donate $75 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you can elect to receive the “Reimagine Church” 2-Book Bundle including ‘Invisible Jesus’ by Scot McKnight & Tommy Phillips and ‘Need to Know’ edited by Danielle Strickland. To donate, click here.
Georgia voters elected Collins to the District 27 state representative seat in 2006. He was sent from Atlanta to Washington six years later, winning the District 9 election for the U.S. House. He stepped down to run for U.S. Senate in 2020, but lost.
Trump said in a statement that Collins “will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemenbers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need.”
This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.
Scott Barkley is chief national correspondent for Baptist Press.
English 
Spanish
8 Responses
I did not vote for Mr. Trump and have reservations about some of his other appointments, but this choice of a veteran who is currently a chaplain gives me hope that our veterans will be treated as they should be.
I don’t know much about this guy, but the combination of pastoral experience and legislative experience sounds like a good background for this job.
other than being a Christian that supported Trump (which raises questions in my mind of both his theological as well as constitutional government understanding and reverence competence) this seems like the first appointment that isn’t a total clown show.
So this is the guy who will oversee taking away veteran’s benefits. At least he’ll do it in a nice, christian manner.
He was so combative while in congress that you wouldn’t know he was a Christian unless he said so.
He runs with Roger Stone, a bi-sexual who participates in “swinging” with his wife…. It is just exhausting,
Doug was called a “liar and charlatan from Republicans in Georgia over insisting the 2020 election was stolen.
Funny that he didn’t claim it was stolen when he lost “his” senate bid.
Why Christians have hitched their wagon and the name of Christ to this group is mind boggling.
Based on a quick reading of this article, I really wanted to think this is a good thing.
Unfortunately, it fails to note the most important details that the rest of the press have observed. Mr. Collins has no Veteran’s Affairs Experience (in the field or in congressional committees) and no Healthcare management experience. There’s really nothing in his resume to indicate that he’s qualified to lead an organization with nearly half a million employees and an 11 billion budget, that serves 9 million individuals a year.
Experience and expertise matters. Being a Chaplain in the military does not qualify you to head the VA just as being the head of the VA qualifies you to be a Pastor. I’m sure there are many Christians who would be qualified to lead the VA, but like so many recent nomination announcements, Mr. Collin’s only real “qualification” for the job seems to be a robust support of the incoming president.
That is false. Mr. Collins has more than enough education and experience for this position, including veterans affairs and appropriations committees. A quick reading of a Wikipedia article would have told you that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Collins_%28politician%29?wprov=sfla1
Thanks Mark,
I had only looked at his federal experience. I missed that he had committee assignments in those areas a dozen years ago in the Georgia state legislature. Thanks for bringing that to our attention.
Still think he’s an awful choice, and not qualified but if state-level experience over a decade ago is enough for some folks to think he’s qualified to care for our veterans they’re welcome to feel differently.