Reverend Richard D. Turpin
Second Baptist Church
Catskill, NY
Sponsor: Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, (D-NY)
Date of Prayer: 07/31/2007
One Minute Speech Given in Recognition of the Guest Chaplain:
(Mrs. GILLIBRAND asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the Reverend Richard David Turpin , who has so eloquently provided the blessing to open the House this day.
Reverend Turpin serves as the pastor of the Second Baptist Church in beautiful Catskill, New York, just across the Hudson River from my home in New York's 20th Congressional District. And I welcome his beautiful family, who has joined us in the gallery.
The Reverend is a native of New York's capital region and has been an influential force in the Catskill community since he assumed his current position in the Second Baptist Church in 2000.
As preacher and counselor for the prison ministry at Albany Correctional Facility, chaplain for the Albany Rescue Mission, president of the Hudson River Frontier Missionary Baptist Association Laymen Ministry, and athletic coordinator for the Youth Department of the Empire Missionary Baptist Convention, Reverend Turpin has touched the lives of young and old throughout upstate New York.
I thank him for his service to our district, for his dedication to his faith, and for taking the time to travel with his family from Clifton Park to address the House of Representatives today.
Opening Prayer Given by the Guest Chaplain:
Our Father and our God, Creator and everlasting Redeemer, we come asking your Holy presence to be with us. It's with great joy that you allowed us to gather here this morning. We thank you for being our protector of lasting nights lying down and the guidance of this morning's sunrise.
Father, we ask your Holy Spirit to bless the work of this day and bless the governing body of this house to be one accord in spirit and in truth. So every plan, every proposal and every decision will be orchestrated by your presence.
Lord, we need you to place a hedge of love and patience over our families and homes while we do the assigned work of our nation.
We ask for peace where there is war, love where there is anger, and joy where there is sorrow.
Father, we pray and trust it to be so, in the name above all names, Amen.
To learn more about Members who have sponsored a Guest Chaplain, please visit the Congressional Biographical Directory