VA Secretary Doug Collins replies Jan. 21, 2025, to questions asked during his Senate confirmation hearing. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

WASHINGTON — A new task force targeting anti-Christian bias at the Department of Veterans Affairs was established after some VA facilities restricted sermon content and an Army Reserve chaplain was removed from duty for preaching about biblical text against homosexuality, the VA said.

VA Secretary Doug Collins, an attorney and Air Force Reserve chaplain, said the task force was a response to documented “anti-Christian bias” at some VA facilities that included the punishment of Army Reserve chaplain Russell Trubey over a sermon that he gave in 2024 at the Coatesville VA Medical Center in Pennsylvania.

The new task force will collect reports from employees on actions and activities that are deemed “hostile” to Christian views and values, according to an internal memo that Collins sent to VA employees.

Among the incidents that led to the creation of the task force was an investigation of Trubey in 2024 following complaints over a sermon that he gave titled, “When a Culture Excludes God,” according to Trubey’s attorneys.

Russell Trubey is an Army Reserve chaplain who served 10 years at the Coatesville VA Medical Center in Pennsylvania. Trubey was the subject of an internal Department of Veterans Affairs investigation in 2024 for a sermon that included statements on biblical text critical of homosexuality, according to his attorneys. (Russell Trubey)

Trubey warned in the sermon that homosexuality was counter to teachings in the Bible, according to First Liberty Institute and Independence Law Center, the law firms representing Trubey. Some people walked out of the church service and raised concerns about his address, Trubey’s lawyers said in a letter sent to Collins in February.

“After the service ended and when Chaplain Trubey was cleaning up the chapel, an onsite VA police officer approached him alleging complaints about the content of his sermon,” according to a description of events by First Liberty.

The attorneys wrote Trubey was transferred out of chaplain service while the VA investigated him over “inappropriate conduct.” Trubey was reassigned to stocking shelves and other duties unrelated to his chaplaincy, the lawyers wrote.

“Trubey experienced ostracization, strange looks and being the subject of the workplace rumor mill,” according to the letter.

Chaplains later were barred from preaching sermons that could be construed as political or divisive, the lawyers wrote in the letter.

They contended censorship of chaplain sermons and other incidents of “religious discrimination” are a systemic problem across the VA.

Collins, in one of his first duties after taking office as VA secretary in February, exonerated the chaplain and lifted policies for limiting or prescribing the content of VA sermons, according to a letter Collins sent to First Liberty Institute.

Collins said the VA is committed to providing training to VA leaders and chaplains on legal protections afforded to chaplains in delivering their sermons. The new task force will handle future issues flagged by VA employees and address confirmed instances of anti-Christian discrimination at the VA, according to the VA.

Trubey’s attorneys had argued Trubey’s constitutional right to free speech had been violated. They also maintained restricting the content of chaplain sermons was “an unconstitutional prior restraint on speech.”

The attorneys emphasized “chaplains’ sermons hold a special place in the context of the First Amendment’s free speech protections, and chaplains do not forfeit those rights by virtue of their employment by the federal government,” according to a statement from First Liberty.

Collins agreed and responded constitutional law protects statements made by VA chaplains in their sermons. He also wrote there is no national or local policy that “inhibits” chaplain sermons.

“It is undisputed and well-settled law that constitutional law and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act protects statements made by all VA chaplains while delivering sermons in accordance with their ecclesiastical endorsers,” Collins wrote.

He further stated the VA was committed to protecting the freedom of speech of chaplains and ensuring there are no further “misapplications of law.”

“Secretary Collins made it clear that the government has no business censoring anyone’s sermon, including military chaplains,” said Erin Smith, associate counsel at First Liberty Institute.