Reverend Rachel Landers Vaagenes
Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church
Washington, DC
Date of Prayer: 05/26/2026
One Minute Speech Given in Recognition of the Guest Chaplain:
Opening Prayer Given by the Guest Chaplain:
Our dear Lord God, we pause this week to remember. All faiths call the faithful to look back and remember, in order to give us a vision of what can be. We are called to remember who we are, to remember whose we are; to remember our various calling; and to remember those whom we are connected to in this life on Earth.
And so as servant leaders of this United States, we unplug and disengage from the busyness that is always demanding and distracting and dividing, and we take time to remember. To remember the words of our Founders calling out to us from above, inscribed on the ceiling of this very Chamber: ‘‘E Pluribus unum''; ‘‘Out of many, one.''
May this moment of remembrance and prayer be a time where we honor the many who sacrificed themselves for the many. And may this moment inspire us to seek a future of selflessness, and a vision of prosperity and liberty that is wedded to the prosperity and liberty of the many. May our work be toward a unity that remembers the many, challenging as that may be.
With the past, present, and future in our hearts, we lift up this prayer in hope. May it be so.
Amen.
To learn more about Members who have sponsored a Guest Chaplain, please visit the Congressional Biographical Directory