[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 49 (Tuesday, April 28, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E679]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      CELEBRATING THE 60TH BIRTHDAY OF REVEREND NORMA JEAN PENDER

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                          HON. DEBBIE STABENOW

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 28, 1998

  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay special tribute to 
Reverend Norma Jean Pender who is celebrating her 60th birthday.
  For thirty-five years, Ms. Pender has served the people of Michigan 
and has been a tireless leader for the community. Ms. Pender received 
her license to preach the Gospel in the Christian Episcopal Church in 
1974, and was ordained in 1978 by the late Bishop E.P. Murchison. In 
1982, she accepted the call to the position of Pastor of the New 
Jerusalem Temple Baptist Church. In 1985, she was ordained in the 
Baptist faith through the National Baptist Convention, USA.
  Along with her responsibilities to her church, she has also been 
committed to a vast array of community projects, such as the NAACP, the 
American Business Women's Association, and the Minister's Volunteer 
Services for the Harper Hospital Cancer Society.
  During her thirty-five years, Ms. Pender has served as musical 
leader, teacher, community spokesperson, and spiritual advisory to 
people of all ages. Most of all, through song, she showed her passion 
for life and her faith in God.
  While many of us know her as Reverend Mother on a popular radio show 
she hosts each weekday, Ms. Pender is also known as a woman committed 
to family, the community and the gospel. I thank her for the example 
she has set for so many of our young children as well as adults and 
wish her a very happy birthday.

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