Adam McHugh '98 Gives U.S. House of Representatives a Prayer

A week ago, House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier '75 demonstrated what a small, connected world it is for CMCers. Dreier, a CMC Trustee, said he was probably making history as he introduced guest chaplain Adam McHugh on the House floor, sharing with fellow leaders that, like he, McHugh was an alumnus of Claremont McKenna College (Class of '98), as was McHugh's wife, Lindsay, who graduated in 1999. And in addition to the three of them, so, too, was Father Patrick Conroy '72, the newly elected Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives.
In fact, back up a year or so, and you'll find more to the story. Because it was actually during an interview on behalf of CMC magazine last fall that McHugh and Conroy were introduced. McHugh was writing a feature story for the Profile section about Conroy's new role on Capitol Hill, and the two, understandably, hit it off. Conroy told McHugh that guest chaplains could apply to lead prayer on the House floor, and McHugh took note. As was required, he applied as a guest chaplain through his own Congressman's office, and, yes, that Congressman was Dreier. "His office was very responsive," McHugh says of the process. "And I'm sure the CMC connection was absolutely vital for that."
Dreier's introduction of McHugh last week, just moments before McHugh opened the day's prayer on Feb. 28, can be seen on Vimeo.
Although it's not in the video clip, the Congressman at one point submitted a list of all McHugh's writings into the congressional record, and even held up a copy of McHugh's 2009 book, Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture, which was featured in the spring 2010 issue of CMC.
The book, as well as McHugh, is also mentioned in the new, New York Times bestseller by Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking (January, 2012), a book about "how dramatically we undervalue introverts, and how much we lose in doing so."
McHugh, who serves as chaplain for VITAS Hospice Care in Covina, says last week's House prayer involved strict guidelines that made preparation a bit more demanding than the usual spiritual offerings. Partisan statements were not allowed, and neither were references to the name of Jesus (or Allah or Buddha or Vishnu, etc.). He also had to submit a draft in advance for approval, and was limited to 150 words. Other than that, the biggest difference between that day and presenting a more traditional prayer, he says, was the presence of the C-SPAN cameras.
"The whole thing was pretty surreal, standing in front of the Speaker of the House, and praying at the same podium that the President uses for the State of the Union," McHugh says. "Only the chaplains and the President use that particular podium.
"They told me about the podium after my prayer, not before, so as not to make me even more intimidated," McHugh jokes.
"And David Dreier was incredibly gracious ... It was all quite overwhelming," he says.