Barry Black

On May 23, 2019, Black was awarded the Becket's 2019 Canterbury Medal for his defense of religious liberty for people of all faiths.

During the 16-day United States federal government shutdown of 2013, Black's invocations began to garner widespread national attention. On October 1, the first day of the shutdown, he prayed for divine guidance to "strengthen our weakness, replacing cynicism with faith and cowardice with courage". On October 3, he prayed, "Save us from the madness. We acknowledge our transgressions, our shortcomings, our smugness, our selfishness and our pride... Deliver us from the hypocrisy of attempting to sound reasonable while being unreasonable."

As a result of the attention his invocations received during the federal government shutdown, Black was parodied on NBC's Saturday Night Live. Playing Black during the show's "Weekend Update" segment that aired on October 12, 2013, SNL cast member Kenan Thompson prayed, "Lord, bless and forgive these braying jackasses." Thompson's Black prayed, "May they find themselves in a restroom stall devoid of toilet paper."

Black's autobiography, From the Hood to the Hill, was published in 2006. He has explained its title as follows:

In addition to earning three Master of Arts degrees in divinity, counseling, and management, Black holds two earned doctorates: a Doctorate of Ministry and a Ph.D. in psychology. In 2004, he also received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity degree from La Sierra University.

Black served for over 27 years in the United States Navy Chaplain Corps, rising to the rank of rear admiral (upper half) and ending his career as the Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy. He retired from the Navy on August 15, 2003.

On June 27, 2003, Black was chosen as the 62nd chaplain of the United States Senate. He began the job on July 7, 2003.

In 2002, he received the Benjamin Elijah Mays Distinguished Leadership Award from the Morehouse School of Religion. In 2004, the Old Dominion University chapter of the NAACP conferred on him the Image Award, "Reaffirming the Dream - Realizing the Vision", for military excellence.

In 1995, Black was chosen from 127 nominees for the NAACP Renowned Service Award for his contributions to equal opportunity and civil rights.

Commissioned as a Navy chaplain in 1976, Black's first duty station was the Fleet Religious Support Activity in Norfolk, Virginia. Subsequent assignments included Naval Support Activity, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland; First Marine Aircraft Wing, Okinawa, Japan; Naval Training Center, San Diego, California; USS Belleau Wood (LHA-3), Long Beach, California; Naval Chaplains School Advanced Course, Newport, Rhode Island; Marine Aircraft Group Thirty-One, Beaufort, South Carolina; assistant staff chaplain, chief of naval education and training, Pensacola, Florida; and fleet chaplain, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, Norfolk, Virginia.

Barry Clayton Black (born November 1, 1948) is the 62nd chaplain of the United States Senate. He began serving as Senate chaplain on June 27, 2003, becoming the first African American and first Seventh-day Adventist to hold the office.