The Office of the Chaplain United States House of Representatives

Reverend Jonathan Falwell

Thomas Road Baptist Church
Lynchburg, VA

Sponsor: Rep. Bob Goodlatte, (R-VA)
Date of Prayer: 07/29/2009

One Minute Speech Given in Recognition of the Guest Chaplain:

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman from Virginia is recognized for 1 minute.

There was no objection.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, it is a real honor today to welcome our guest chaplain, the Reverend Jonathan Falwell , the senior pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, one of the largest churches in America, which has a tremendous outreach to the community in Lynchburg and across Virginia, across our Nation and, indeed, across the world helping people in need. He also serves as the executive vice president of spiritual affairs at Liberty University, the world's largest evangelical Christian university, with over 40,000 students, both on campus and online.

I very much welcome not only Reverend Falwell , but his entire family who is with us in the gallery today, and we are delighted that they could be with us to share in a full day of activities here at the United States Capitol and to meet as many Members of the House and staff members and others who work so hard here on behalf of our country.

I hope Members will take the opportunity to come by and say hello to him at the various places he'll be during the course of the day. I'm honored to call Reverend Falwell a constituent and, most importantly, a dear friend; and I offer the thanks of this entire body to him for delivering today's morning prayer. He is joined by his wife, Shari, as well as their four children, Jonathan Jr., Jessica, Natalie and Nicholas, as well as his mother, Macel. Thank you all for being with us.

Opening Prayer Given by the Guest Chaplain:

Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for our great nation. We thank you for what you have done to make this nation a lighthouse to the world and a beacon of hope to people everywhere.

We know, as our forefathers knew and as the Scriptures tell us, that righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people. And so, today we ask your forgiveness for the sins that we as a people, and we as a nation, have committed.

Today we seek your wisdom and guidance in all that takes place in this room. We ask you to be a lamp unto our feet and light unto our path. We ask you to protect the men and women who serve here. We ask you to lead them as they lead us. And, above all, we ask you to bless this great land that we call home.

In your precious name we pray. Amen.

To learn more about Members who have sponsored a Guest Chaplain, please visit the Congressional Biographical Directory