Reverend Morris Matthis
Christ United Methodist Church
Sugar Land, TX
Sponsor: Rep. Pete Olson, (R-TX)
Date of Prayer: 10/25/2011
One Minute Speech Given in Recognition of the Guest Chaplain:
Mr. OLSON. Mr. Speaker, one of the privileges we have as Members of Congress is to have the leader of a church back home deliver the opening prayer for the United States House of Representatives. Today, I'm proud to introduce America to my home pastor, Morris Matthis.
Morris has had a tremendous spiritual influence on my family and me. When we moved back to Texas, my wife and I worried about uprooting our two children from the only home they'd ever known. But we shouldn't have worried. We found Morris and the amazing people at Christ United Methodist Church in Sugar Land, Texas. They welcomed us with open arms, and have loved us ever since.
During his tenure at Christ United Methodist Church, Morris and his team––his wife, Jepilyn; his son, Kyle; and his daughter, Amy––have made sure that every single man, woman, and child who has walked through our church's doors has felt the peace, the love, and the faith that embraced my family.
Whatever I do in Congress, however long I'm here, I'll have no fonder memory than my pastor, Morris Matthis, standing before the American people in prayer for our great Nation.
Opening Prayer Given by the Guest Chaplain:
Almighty God who is the giver of every good and perfect gift and who has blessed us with this good land and fashioned us into one united people, grant wisdom to those whom in your name we entrust the authority of government.
Guide them in their deliberations and in their decision making.
Grant them the grace to see themselves as leaders who stand in the shadow of history.
Bless them with the humility and insight of Abraham Lincoln who said: "I have been driven many times to my knees with the overwhelming conviction, that I had nowhere else to go."
Grant them the assurance that when the hour is desperate and the way unclear, there is one to whom they can go and then, O God, in your mercy help them to go there.
In the name of the One who is the hope of the world, Amen.
To learn more about Members who have sponsored a Guest Chaplain, please visit the Congressional Biographical Directory