[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 37 (Tuesday, April 9, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2375-S2376]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           THE GUEST CHAPLAIN

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I rise to introduce properly the 
Pastor who just gave the wonderful invocation that opened the Senate.
  It is my distinct pleasure to introduce our guest Chaplain and fellow 
Texan, the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell. Reverend Caldwell is the Senior 
Pastor of the Windsor Village United Methodist Church in my hometown of 
Houston. I thank him for opening with a wonderful prayer this morning.
  Reverend Caldwell has led his church of approximately 14,000 members 
in southwest Houston for nearly 20 years. He also delivered the 
invocation at the President's inauguration last January.
  Reverend Caldwell is an influential and motivational leader in the 
Houston community. He is well known for his zeal and compassion for 
people. As an articulate and accomplished businessman, he has utilized 
his pulpit as well as his business skills to develop successful faith-
based community programs throughout Houston. These initiatives provide 
housing, job training, counseling, and other important services to 
needy residents throughout the community, truly demonstrating Christian 
charity and brotherly love.
  The social programs fostered by Reverend Caldwell in Windsor Village 
have become models for faith-based initiatives throughout the United 
States. Reverend Caldwell came to the ministry truly from a calling and 
truly from his heart for he earned a master's degree in business at the 
Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and he was a bond 
trader with a firm in Houston and was doing well. But something else 
nudged at him while he was in the business field, and he decided that 
he wanted to be a minister. So he went back to Southern Methodist 
University to get yet another master's degree, this time in theology. 
He serves on the boards of a range of community groups from the 
Children's Defense Fund to the MD Anderson Cancer Center. Reverend 
Caldwell is also the author of the book

[[Page S2376]]

``The Gospel of Good Success: A Roadmap to Spiritual, Emotional, and 
Financial Wholeness.''
  I have known Reverend Caldwell for a long time. He is also a friend 
to President George W. Bush. He is such an important person in the 
Houston community, looked to by business leaders, community leaders, 
and by the people in the community who need help. He is always there 
when called. I am very proud to welcome him to the Senate this morning.

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