Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-102
§8221 Chaplains: Divine Services
Title 10 › Subtitle C — Navy and Marine Corps › PART II — PERSONNEL › CHAPTER 825 — ADMINISTRATION › § 8221
Summary
Chaplain Corps officers may lead public worship in the way their church uses. Commanders of ships and naval activities with chaplains must hold Sunday services when possible; Navy and Marine members are urged to attend and must behave respectfully during them.
Full Legal Text
Title 10, §8221
Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)An officer in the Chaplain Corps may conduct public worship according to the manner and forms of the church of which he is a member.
(b)The commanders of vessels and naval activities to which chaplains are attached shall cause divine service to be performed on Sunday, whenever the weather and other circumstances allow it to be done; and it is earnestly recommended to all officers, seamen, and others in the naval service diligently to attend at every performance of the worship of Almighty God.
(c)All persons in the Navy and in the Marine Corps are enjoined to behave themselves in a reverent and becoming manner during divine service.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 6031(a)34 U.S.C. 95.R.S. 1397. 6031(b)34 U.S.C. 266 (1st sentence).
May 5, 1950, ch. 169, § 7(d), 64 Stat. 146. 6031(c)34 U.S.C. 266 (2d sentence).
May 5, 1950, ch. 169, § 7(e), 64 Stat. 146. 6031(d)34 U.S.C. 96.R.S. 1398. In subsection (c) the words “and in the Marine Corps” are added to execute the definition of “Navy” in section 1, article 1, of the Act of
May 5, 1950, ch. 169, 64 Stat. 146.
Editorial Notes
Prior Provisions
A prior section 8221, ct Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 502, related to authorized strength of Air Force Reserve, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, § 1662(a)(3), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2988. See section 12001 of this title.
Amendments
2018—Pub. L. 115–232 renumbered section 6031 of this title as this section. 1959—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 86–140 repealed subsec. (d) which required each chaplain to report annually to the Secretary of the Navy the official services performed by him.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2018 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective Feb. 1, 2019, with provision for the coordination of
Amendments
and special rule for certain redesignations, see section 800 of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
10 U.S.C. § 8221
Title 10, Armed Forces
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102