Reverend Sara A. Gausmann
St. Paul Lutheran Church
York, PA
Sponsor: Rep. Rep. Todd Platts, (R-PA)
Date of Prayer: 02/05/2003
One Minute Speech Given in Recognition of the Guest Chaplain:
Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to welcome as Guest Chaplain on the floor of the House of Representatives an outstanding constituent and religious leader in my 19th Congressional District of Pennsylvania. The Reverend Sara "Sally" Gausmann . "Pastor Sally," joined by her husband, Reverend Paul Gausmann , represent a thriving religious community, Saint Paul Lutheran Church in York, Pennsylvania. Together, pastor Sally and Pastor Paul successfully aid in the needs of their congregation and I am pleased to thank them for their exemplary status as role models in my district.
Pastor Sally received her bachelor's degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1981, before attending the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg in 1991. She then served at several churches including Grade Lutheran Church in Rochester, Pennsylvania from 1991–1993 and Faith Lutheran Church in Shell Rock, Iowa from 1993–1999 before serving as co–pastor of Saint Paul Lutheran Church. During her time at the Saint Paul Lutheran Church, Pastor Sally was the chaplain at the Pennsylvania State Sheriff's Convention in 2001 and is currently a member of the Global Mission Task Force for the Lower Susquehanna Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. As a husband and wife team, Sally and Paul Gausmann offer a united approach to their religious teachings that has flourished within this congregation. They have two children, a son, William, who is age 17 and a daughter, Laura, who is age 15.
I am pleased to welcome Pastor Sally to the House Floor and would like to thank her for the inspirational prayer she presented this afternoon that reinforces the importance that our great nation exists as one "under God."
Opening Prayer Given by the Guest Chaplain:
Gracious God of light and peace, we praise you for the way you have blessed our nation with a bounty of resources and talents. Enlighten us this day with a measure of your wisdom that we would use the gifts you have given us for the good of all. Where there is confusion, give us clarity of thought, where there is danger, cause us to walk carefully, and where there is injustice, help us to work diligently to eliminate it. Empower our nation to continue to be a beacon of hope for the cause of freedom. Bless our President and Congress and all our leaders, that we might be guided by your precepts, and comforted by your grace. May the work undertaken in this place today be pleasing in your sight and directed by your will, for you live and reign as God forever and ever. Amen.
To learn more about Members who have sponsored a Guest Chaplain, please visit the Congressional Biographical Directory