Richard C. Halverson

Halverson was a minister of the former United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America and served from 1958 until 1981 as the Senior Pastor of the Fourth Presbyterian Church, in Bethesda, Maryland. He served as the Chaplain of the United States Senate from February 2, 1981, until March 11, 1995. He was an associate of the National Prayer Breakfast movement starting in 1956 along with Bill Bright and Douglas Coe. Halverson also was a member of the Board of World Vision, from 1956 to 1983, serving as chairman from 1966 to 1983. He was the President of Concern Ministries, a charitable foundation in Washington, D.C.

Halverson received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Valley City State University on May 20, 1977, and an honorary Doctorate of Laws degree from Wheaton College. He received the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award from the state of North Dakota on March 26, 1994.

Halverson authored several books in the 1950s–1990s, including:

Halverson was married on February 2, 1942, to Doris Grace Seaton (1915-2009) and they had three children.

He was born in Pingree, North Dakota. He attended Valley City State Teacher College in Valley City, North Dakota, before earning a Bachelor of Science degree from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, in 1939, participating in the Wheaton College Men’s Glee Club. He then earned a Bachelor of Theology degree from Princeton Theological Seminary. Christian educator Henrietta Mears (1890–1963) of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood had a significant influence on his life. He became the Assistant Pastor at First Presbyterian of Hollywood and was part of the Burning Hearts Fellowship along with Louis Evans, Jr., Bill Bright, Billy Graham, Roy Rogers and others.

The Reverend Richard Christian Halverson, D.D., (February 5, 1916 – November 28, 1995) was an American Presbyterian minister and author who served as the chaplain of the United States Senate.