A fight to keep Jesus' name in prayers at Virginia State Police functions got an "Amen" yesterday from more than a dozen Virginia clergymen.

The local, state and national religious leaders gathered at the General Assembly Building to oppose an order that effectively bans state police chaplains from making specific religious references in prayers at department events.

More than 80 other Virginia pastors have signed a letter to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine seeking to reverse a policy decision by state police Superintendent W. Steven Flaherty. Flaherty recently directed the department's 17 volunteer chaplains to begin delivering nondenominational prayers at such functions as trooper graduation ceremonies and its annual memorial service for fallen officers.

Six chaplains resigned their ministries in protest.

Ending a prayer in the name of Jesus Christ is in keeping with "ancient Christian tradition" and "the deepest beliefs and convictions in our souls," the Rev. Rob Schenck of the National Clergy Council said during the news conference.

"So how do we end a prayer unless in the name of Jesus Christ? We are pleading with the governor . . . to reconsider the magnitude of this thing."

Bishop Gerald O. Glenn, senior pastor of New Deliverance Evangelistic Church in Chesterfield County, added, "To ask these brave [chaplains] to be silent about the one in whom they have committed their faith undermines all that they are about and diminishes their ability to serve their fellow troopers." Glenn is the former director of the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice.

Glenn, who said he considers Kaine to be a friend, said, "I'm very, very disappointed in this action."

Kaine has said he gave no directive to state police but supports Flaherty's decision.

Victoria Cobb, president of The Family Foundation, called Flaherty's action "an act of anti-Christian hysteria based on a flawed decision" by a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That panel upheld a Fredericksburg City Council ban on sectarian prayer, which prohibited references to specific religions in prayers used to open council meetings.

"Unfortunately, expunging our Judeo-Christian heritage from the public square seems all too in vogue in 21st Century America, with elected officials and their political appointees leading the way," she said. "In the name of tolerance, public faith is frowned upon."

Yesterday's event was organized by former Navy Chaplain Gordon J. Klingenschmitt, who was court-martialed and eventually discharged from the service for disobeying a direct order by appearing in uniform at a political protest two years ago in front of the White House. He was a vocal critic of the Navy's policies on prayer in ceremonial settings.

The pastors announced they will hold a "nonpartisan statewide prayer rally" outside the Executive Mansion on Nov. 1 in support of the chaplains who resigned.

Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, defended Flaherty's prayer decision. He was "simply following the law pronounced by the highest federal court in Virginia," Tobias said.

Corinne Geller, Flaherty's spokesperson, said, "The colonel continues to stand by his original decision."

Contact Mark Bowes at (804) 649-6450 or mbowes@timesdispatch.com.