Right Reverend John B. Lipscomb
Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida
Parrish, FL
Sponsor: Rep. Mr. Dan Miller, (R-FL)
Date of Prayer: 06/19/2002
One Minute Speech Given in Recognition of the Guest Chaplain:
Mr. DAN MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, today Bishop John Bailey Lipscomb , who gave our very eloquent prayer this morning, is from my hometown of Bradenton, Florida. Bishop Lipscomb was instituted as the Fourth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida in 1997. The Diocese of Southwest Florida covers the area from Brooksville, Florida, which is north of Tampa, south to Naples, and includes my area along the Gulf of Mexico, as well as portions of the gentlemen from Florida's (Mr. Bilirakis), (Mr. Young), (Mr. Davis), (Mr. Putnam), (Mr. Goss) and the gentlewoman from Florida's (Mrs. Thurman) districts in our area of southwest Florida.
Born in Alexandria, Virginia, Bishop Lipscomb grew up in Jacksonville. He received his BA from the University of North Carolina, Asheville, his Master's in Divinity degree from the School of Theology of the University of South Sewanee, his Doctor of Ministry degree from the Graduate Theological Foundation and is a Fellow of the Foundation. Bishop Lipscomb has worked in several States throughout the South and as chaplain of the Louisiana National Guard. Bishop Lipscomb served on active duty during Operation Desert Shield.
Bishop Lipscomb and his wife, Marcie, have two children, Matthew and Natalie, and four grandchildren. The Lipscombs are very active in my community, and I have had the pleasure of working with them personally, especially and most recently on the Boys and Girls Club in Manatee County. It is my honor to be able to welcome him here today and consider him my friend.
Opening Prayer Given by the Guest Chaplain:
Eternal God, Sovereign and Lord of all, we commend to You those who serve in the several branches of the government of our Nation. Especially we pray this day for the representatives of the people of the United States gathered in this Chamber to seek and to do Your will for those who elected them to this high office. We offer You grateful Thanksgiving for all who serve in this House with honor and integrity. Guard them from the presumption of self–importance and self–interest. Give them clarity of vision and thought. Renew in them a passion for justice and freedom. Endue them with the courage needed to guard the dignity and extend the blessings of liberty to all the people of our great Nation and of the whole Earth. All this we ask in Your holy Name. Amen.
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