Reverend Neil D. Smith
Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church
Alexandria, VA
Sponsor: Rep. Rep. Mike Pence, (R-IN)
Date of Prayer: 10/01/2002
One Minute Speech Given in Recognition of the Guest Chaplain:
Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Watts), the conference chairman, it is my honor today to welcome Reverend Neil Smith to this Chamber, the senior pastor of Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Kingstowne, Virginia, a midsized church in the Evangelical Presbyterian denomination in northern Virginia. Faith Church is the church home to numerous congressional staffers, and its ministry is felt daily here on Capitol Hill.
Reverend Smith has spearheaded his church's effort toward outreach, both in the local community and around the world, with a missions presence. He is also very active in his growing denomination, attending session and general assembly meetings around the country. Last year he served as moderator of the Presbytery of the East of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
Pastor Smith was born and raised in western Pennsylvania, graduated with highest honors and a BA degree from Grove City College in Pennsylvania in 1977. In 1983, he graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary with an M.Div. degree, again with highest honors, and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. From 1983 to 1997, he served in churches in Downingtown and Altoona, Pennsylvania. Since mid–1997, he has been senior pastor at Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
He and his wife Mary Sue, who joins him here today, have just celebrated 25 years of matrimony. They have three children: daughter, Erin, 19, a sophomore at Grove City College in Pennsylvania; daughter Lindsay, who is a junior at West Springfield High School in Virginia, turned 16 today; and a very special boy, Nathan, 10 years old, a fifth–grader at my son's school here in Springfield, Virginia. They reside in Springfield, and, Mr. Speaker, we join in welcoming Reverend Smith and his wonderful family to this Chamber on this occasion.
Opening Prayer Given by the Guest Chaplain:
Almighty God, from whom all blessings flow and to whom all praise belongs, acknowledging both our dependence upon You and our accountability to You, we ask Your blessings upon this House and all our Nation's leaders as they carry out their duties under Your sovereign rule.
Grant to the Members of this body both the wisdom to know what is right in Your eyes and the resolve to do it.
Lead them in the paths of righteousness and truth for Your name's sake, so that they may serve Your purposes in this generation.
May Your grace abound to them in both their personal and public lives so that in all things, at all times, having all that they need, they may abound in every good work.
This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, who is before all things and in whom all things hold together.
Amen.
To learn more about Members who have sponsored a Guest Chaplain, please visit the Congressional Biographical Directory