Imam Abdullah Antepli
Duke University
Durham, NC
Sponsor: Rep. Hon. David Price, (D-NC)
Date of Prayer: 03/03/2010
One Minute Speech Given in Recognition of the Guest Chaplain:
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Madam Speaker, I wish to introduce to my colleagues my distinguished constituent and today's guest chaplain, Imam Abdullah Antepli . I also want to welcome in the gallery our many guests from the Duke University community, the Muslim community, the Turkish community, both from the triangle area of North Carolina and from the Washington area.
Imam Antepli has a long and distinguished record of faith–based and humanitarian service in countries ranging from his native Turkey to the Southeastern Asian nations of Burma and Malaysia. Since moving to the United States in 2003, he has been a true pioneer in the field of Muslim campus ministry, serving as the first Muslim chaplain at Wesleyan University and as the founding member of the Muslim Chaplains Association. He later served at Hartford Seminary, where he completed his doctorate on the challenges and opportunities facing the Muslim campus ministry in the United States.
In July 2008, he came to Duke University to serve as the school's first full–time Muslim chaplain. Although he has been on campus less than 2 years, he has made an enormous impact on the university community. His role is obviously to facilitate worship and study for the school's Muslim students, but he has taken on much more than that. He counsels students of all faiths, fosters understanding of the Muslim faith, and is much in demand as a speaker and a participant in a variety of community events. This is a
remarkable accomplishment at a time when religious differences still threaten to divide us from one another and from other nations.
I first met Imam Antepli last September at a meeting of Islamic study scholars in which he participated, and I was immediately struck by enthusiasm, his intellect and his readiness to engage. Throughout his career, he has truly exemplified the notion of faith in action and has made a habit of practicing the values of tolerance, understanding and respectful dialogue, which he preaches.
So, Madam Speaker, I am pleased on behalf of all of our colleagues to introduce and welcome Imam Abdullah Antepli to the House here today.
Opening Prayer Given by the Guest Chaplain:
God of all Nations,
Look with favor upon this esteemed Congress. Guide these important decision makers with your Divine Light. Be their source of strength and comfort. Enable them to serve you and glorify Your name by serving the citizens of this great nation and to the entire humanity, regardless of their gender, ethnicity or religion.
Make them Your instruments to deliver Your divine Mercy and Compassion. Bless them with openness and humility. Fill their hearts and minds with passion and determination to improve the quality of the life of their fellow human beings. Grant them success in their efforts to wipe out poverty, ignorance, and racism and hate in this country and beyond.
Make these women and men, peacemakers, healers and bridge builders, so urgently needed in our wounded and broken times. Give them the strength that they need to keep what needs to be kept. Give them the courage that they need to change what needs to be changed. Give them the wisdom they need to distinguish the one from the other.
Oh God
If we forget You.
Do not forget us.
Amen.
To learn more about Members who have sponsored a Guest Chaplain, please visit the Congressional Biographical Directory