A conservative Republican congressman from Georgia is calling for congressional hearings to investigate actions by the U.S. military in recent weeks to cancel or rescind invitations that had been made to two prominent conservative Christian leaders — Franklin Graham and Tony Perkins — to speak at military prayer events.

“I think that we need to have some hearings on this because this seems to be something that the military is spending some energy on and we need to raise the visibility on it,” Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) told CNSNews.com.

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WASHINGTON — Christian evangelist Franklin Graham says the Army has withdrawn an invitation for him to appear at a special Pentagon prayer service.

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DENVER — The Army is considering whether to rescind an invitation to evangelist Franklin Graham to appear at the Pentagon amid complaints about his description of Islam as evil, a military spokesman said Wednesday.

Graham, the son of famed evangelist Billy Graham, was to appear at the Pentagon on May 6 — the National Day of Prayer.

He said he will be a guest of the Pentagon and would speak only if he’s still invited.

Army Col. Tom Collins said withdrawing the invitation “is on the table,” but no decision has been made. He said Army brass will have the ultimate decision on whether to pull the invite.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation raised the objection to the appearance, citing Graham’s past remarks about Islam.

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On March 23 to 25, the 442nd Signal Battalion Unit Ministry Team sponsored its second Spouse Seminar. The seminar consisted of three days of training to equip military spouses with the knowledge and resources they will need to care for their immediate family and to create vibrant Unit Readiness Groups to care for their larger military family. Our first Spouse Seminar was held in November of 2009 with 18 spouses participating in the training. This past March, 11 spouses participated including spouses from our Warrant Officer Basic Course, the Signal Basic Officer Leaders Course, the Signal Captains Career Course, and our spouses of our permanent party personnel.

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Doris Jean Bailey worried that her grandson, an Army chaplain, would be deployed overseas when she died and wouldn’t be able to officiate her funeral service.

Capt. David A. Hicks indeed was in Afghanistan on Monday, the day of Bailey’s funeral; he tried, but wasn’t able to fly home. Nevertheless, through a live stream over the Internet — with an adjustment of a large monitor to the right so he could see his mother — he was able to read from Scripture and talk about his grandmother to those packed into a chapel of Brown Funeral Home in Elizabethtown.

“I would have loved to have been there,” Hicks said in an interview after the service, taking time out from visits with others who stood in front of the Apple computer screen. “I’m so grateful to be able to do this. This is the next best thing.”

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CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE MAREZ, Iraq – Army chaplains provide many different religious services for Soldiers, but they also provide a sounding board for those dealing with difficult situations in both their personal lives and military careers.

Capt. Geoffrey Whitaker, the garrison chaplain at Contingency Operating Base Marez, Iraq, with the Regimental Fires Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), has used his own near-death experience and unlikely recovery to reach out to his Soldiers.

“I was a SEAL team officer in my former life,” he said.

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