Reverend Roger Spradlin
Valley Baptist Church
Bakersfield, CA
Sponsor: Rep. Kevin McCarthy, (R-CA)
Date of Prayer: 07/31/2014
One Minute Speech Given in Recognition of the Guest Chaplain:
Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I am both honored and humbled to welcome my good friend, Pastor Roger Spradlin , as our guest chaplain this morning.
Holding a doctorate in ministry and serving as a major leader within the Southern Baptist community, Roger has served the Valley Baptist Church in Bakersfield, California, since 1983. In that time, he has led a congregation that has grown into a family of over 8,000 followers, a family that my wife, Judy, my son, Connor, and Megan belong to.
I have watched Pastor Roger do many things for our community. I have watched him use his grace, his humility, his ability to bring people together. But the part that inspires me the most is I have watched him in time of need, in time of tragic situations in our community, to help us heal. I have watched him officiate and bring joy to a husband and wife being married. I have watched him lift up those in harm's way. But most importantly, I have watched him always bring the grace and inspire others.
So it is with a great deal of joy on a special day today that I am able to have my friend, an individual that helped change my life, be a part of all of our lives.
Opening Prayer Given by the Guest Chaplain:
Father, we thank You for Your sovereignty and providence in each person's life who stands before me and, more importantly, before You. Grant them today Your guidance in their deliberations.
We acknowledge that our country is facing serious challenges and that our world is in crisis. Give this body the courage that is necessary to lead. Rather than allowing our ideology to further divide us, may You, Father, unite us in our shared love for this great Nation.
Give the Members the wisdom to help the oppressed and the weakest among us, as well as the courage to lead by conviction, rather than by mere pragmatism.
Concerning our failures, rather than justice, we ask for Your mercy and grace. Give us the will to acknowledge and to repent of all wrongs.
We thank You for the values on which this country was founded and for Your continued blessing through the years. But we ask today, Father, for our country, that our best days would not be behind us, but before us.
We ask all these things in the strong name of Jesus.
Amen.
To learn more about Members who have sponsored a Guest Chaplain, please visit the Congressional Biographical Directory