In April 1981, a month before graduating from seminary, Rev. Douglass was commissioned as an Ensign in the Chaplain Corps, U.S. Navy Reserves. He was later ordained by the Pittsburgh Presbytery in October 1981 and accepted a call to become the Associate Minister for the Northeastern Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC. In June 1984, Rev. Douglass left his position at Northeastern and began serving full-time as an active duty Navy Chaplain.

As a U.S. Navy Chaplain Rev. Douglass also served with the U.S. Marines and the U.S. Coast Guard. His tours of duty were located around the world, including Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Yokosuka, Japan; Washington, DC, and Tidewater, Virginia. During his 31 years in uniform he served aboard several naval ships and was on three overseas deployments. He received numerous awards and decorations and achieved the rank of Captain. Of the many highlights of his career he most enjoyed serving as the Chaplain of the U. S. Coast Guard and as the Chaplain of Navy Medicine. However, his most memorable experience was when he organized and led a team of twenty-nine Navy Chaplains who provided direct pastoral care and support to police, fire, medical, and recovery personnel, as well as to surviving family members over a period of six weeks in and around Ground Zero immediately following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. He retired from active duty in April, 2012. His last duty was as the Force Chaplain for the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Throughout his naval career Rev. Douglass remained committed to his denomination by serving on various committees and organizations for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Upon retiring from active naval service, he began serving as the pastor for the Community Presbyterian Church in Portsmouth, Virginia. As a minister member of the Presbytery of Eastern Virginia he served as the Moderator for the Commission on Ministry and as a member of the Permanent Judicial Committee for the Synod of the Mid-Atlantic and for the Presbytery of Eastern Virginia. Rev. Douglass is currently the President of the Board of Directors for the Portsmouth Police Athletics/Activities League. He is an avid member and supporter of the National Black Presbyterian Caucus. Rev. Douglass is a life member of Alpha Phi Alpha, Fraternity, Inc., and a member of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity. He is a life member of both the National Naval Officers Association and the Military Officers Association of America.

He has been happily married for over thirty-six years to the love of his life, Julie Wilson Pope-Douglass. The two of them are the proud parents of two grown sons, Charles and Robert. Rev. and Mrs. Douglass reside in Virginia Beach, Virginia.