Reverend Jean Burch
Community Baptist Church
Pasadena, CA
Sponsor: Rep. Rep. Adam Schiff, (D-CA)
Date of Prayer: 07/15/2004
One Minute Speech Given in Recognition of the Guest Chaplain:
Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Women's History Month. Each year, we pay special tribute to the accomplishments made by our nation's most distinguished women during the month of March. It is my great honor to recognize extraordinary women who are making a difference in my district.
I stand today, to recognize an outstanding woman of California's 29th Congressional District. Pastor Jean Burch of Pasadena, California, has been pivotal in the social and religious vitality of our community and I wish to salute her efforts today.
Raised in Pasadena, she attended Pasadena City College, continuing her journey into higher education at Biola University where she earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Organizational Leadership with an emphasis in Biblical Studies.
Pastor Burch had a successful twenty–year career within the legal profession. In March 2000, she left the legal profession to become the Senior Pastor of Community Baptist Church in Pasadena. Her religious career began in the early 1970s under the leadership of Dr. Reverend Coy Turrentine, the late Bishop James E. Henry and as Assistant Pastor for her father, Pastor Emeritus John W. Burch at Community Baptist Church. In addition, she served as an instructor at the Southern California School of Ministry, teaching a course entitled "Women in Ministry."
A natural leader, she has been extensively involved in many community, civic, and religious organizations. Some of the boards she has served on include the National Association for Law Placement, the Los Angeles Association of Legal Recruitment Directors and the Pasadena Public Library Association. Currently she is a board member of the Ecumenical Council of Pasadena Area Churches and Northwest Pasadena Development Corporation. Along with other faith leaders and the Coalition for Zero Violence, Pastor Burch participates in a united effort to end violence in the Pasadena Unified School District. Her church, Community Baptist, is the faith–based partner for Community Arms and Kings Villages affordable housing properties.
Pastor Jean, as she is affectionately called, is beloved and respected by the entire community. She is the proud mother of Leya Douglas, a member of her ministry team, and a grandmother to Kyley Douglas, born in January 2003.
I ask all Members of Congress to join me today in honoring a remarkable woman of California's 29th Congressional District, Pastor Jean Burch. The entire community joins me in thanking Pastor Burch for her continued efforts to make the 29th Congressional District a more vibrant and enjoyable place in which to live.
Opening Prayer Given by the Guest Chaplain:
This is the day that the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it. Dear Lord, as we begin this day we can rejoice because You are our hope. And, as we pray may we be reminded that our hope is not based on optimism but a blessed assurance that this nation under God will find her destiny in God's love. I pray that the trust we have placed in the men and women of this House will prevail in the decisions they make for this nation. Speak to their hearts Lord, through your Spirit that they may know Your will for Your people and our land. I pray that each man and woman in this room will not only know Your will but that they may know You in the power of Your might. For Lord, it is You who is the God of our hope, the rope we take hold of in times of turmoil, the anchor that holds us steady in the time of storm and our refuge when all else has failed. Now, today and in the days to come may the God of hope fill each of you with all joy and peace as you put your trust in Him. In the Name of the Lord, Amen.
To learn more about Members who have sponsored a Guest Chaplain, please visit the Congressional Biographical Directory