The Office of the Chaplain United States House of Representatives

Reverend Raymond Bowman

Spruce Street Baptist Church
Nashville, TN

Sponsor: Rep. Jim Cooper, (D-TN)
Date of Prayer: 03/10/2011

One Minute Speech Given in Recognition of the Guest Chaplain:

Mr. COOPER. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is an honor to recognize the Reverend Raymond Bowman today, who just gave the opening prayer. Seldom has Congress been more in need of prayer than we are today.

Rev. Bowman was raised in Chicago. He came to Nashville, Tennessee, to attend American Baptist College. Thankfully, he is the pastor of Spruce Street Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee, sometimes referred to as the mother church of African American churches in our area. He is also the president of the IMF, the Interdenominational Ministerial Fellowship.

He and his wife, Nancy, are here with us today, and we would like to welcome them to our Nation's capital.

Opening Prayer Given by the Guest Chaplain:

O God of Freedom, referred to by many names, embraced in different ways by the many different people who make up this Great Republic.
As leaders and elected officials, center us on the awesome work of serving a people who have been identified as the citizenry of a free nation, the United States of America.
Grant us a powerful sense of Your presence so that we are not confused about Who really leads and inspires a free people.
Help us to honor the aspirations of a free nation, so that our private ideologies do not distort public passions.
May we in our own little ways provide a concerted effort to represent well our unique, diverse, but united constituencies.
Enable us to see that our best expressions of leadership come not from bold assumptions, but out of humble submissions. Submit us, I pray, to the lofty aspirations that continue to give shape to our wonderful country.
We thank you for giving us another opportunity to make real our claim of God bless America. AMEN.

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