Reverend Neil Stewart
First Presbyterian Church
Columbia, SC
Sponsor: Rep. Joe Wilson, (R-SC)
Date of Prayer: 09/04/2025
One Minute Speech Given in Recognition of the Guest Chaplain:
Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful to welcome Dr. Neil Stewart, senior minister of the First Presbyterian Church of Columbia, South Carolina, as the guest chaplain today to the United States House of Representatives.
First Presbyterian Church in Columbia is the largest Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in the world, founded in 1795.
His ministry is so meaningful to me as our family has attended First Presbyterian Church for six generations, sitting on the same pew.
It is also the churchyard of the graves of the parents of President Woodrow Wilson. This was the boyhood church of President Woodrow Wilson. Also in the churchyard is the grave of Ann Pamela Cunningham, who, in 1854, founded the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association to save Mount Vernon from destruction.
Dr. Stewart grew up in Northern Ireland––obviously, you can tell from his not South Carolina accent––and has studied medicine at Queen's University Belfast and was awarded the Ulster Hospital Gold Medal for his studies in medicine, general and orthopedic surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics, and gynecology.
Dr. Stewart later moved to Jackson, Mississippi, after feeling a desire to grow in his faith. He graduated with a master of divinity from the Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson in 2002.
I appreciate his wife, Catherine, who is here today. Additionally, with his six children, they now reside in the midlands of South Carolina, and we are blessed to have them have chosen South Carolina as their home.
Opening Prayer Given by the Guest Chaplain:
Our ever–blessed and eternal Father, You are very great. You are clothed with splendor and majesty. You cover yourself with light as with a garment. You give wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who seek understanding. You remove kings. You set up kings. You reveal deep and hidden things to those whose hearts belong to You.
We come to You this morning in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the Earth.
We ask You to forgive us our iniquities, our transgressions, and our sins, for Jesus' sake.
We ask You to guide our President, this Congress, and the Supreme Court of the United States. Grant them wisdom, integrity, and courage to pursue what is good and just, and to serve with humility and strength. Watch over America's many servants in harm's way this day. Watch over their going out and their coming in and bring them home safe, we pray.
We offer these prayers this morning in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
To learn more about Members who have sponsored a Guest Chaplain, please visit the Congressional Biographical Directory