[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 125 (Monday, September 30, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1679-E1680]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TRIBUTE TO REVEREND WILLIAM HALL HARTER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BILL SHUSTER

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 26, 2002

  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to extend my thanks to 
Reverend William Hall Harter for his faithful and diligent service to 
his community. Reverend Harter became the minister to the Presbyterian 
Church of Falling Spring in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania in 1977, and 25 
years later, continues to be an exemplary spiritual leader. He began 
his career of service as a tutor and adjunct lecturer in the New 
Testament at the Union Theological Seminary, during which time he also 
served as the minister at the Margaretville and New Kingston United 
Presbyterian Churches in the Catskill Mountains of New York. After 
serving in New York for approximately 10 years, Reverend Harter, his 
wife Linda, and their children moved to the Chambersburg area where he 
continued to minister and give

[[Page E1680]]

of his own time to contribute to the betterment of the local community.
  In addition to serving as minister to the Falling Spring 
congregation, Reverend Harter is very involved with numerous community 
projects and endeavors. Like so many spiritual leaders in communities 
around the country, Reverend Harter had known the value of faith-based 
community action programs long before they became a topic of national 
debate. President George W. Bush is also a great supporter of faith-
based programs and has praised their effectiveness because he knows how 
beneficial they can be to people in all regions of the country. In his 
own community, Reverend Harter has been instrumental in establishing 
programs that make a marked improvement in the lives of community 
residents and provide an atmosphere that allows for their spiritual and 
personal growth. Some examples of these programs are: Franklin County 
for the Homeless, Committee for Annual Holocaust Memorial Service, 
Community Worship Committee, Committee for Annual Martin Luther King, 
Jr. Memorial Service, Building Our Pride in Chambersburg, Inc., 
Carlisle Presbytery Camps and Conference Committee, and the 
Chambersburg Ministerium.
  I would like to commend Reverend William Hall Harter again for his 
contributions and thank him for his first 25 years of service at the 
Presbyterian Church of Falling Spring in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. I 
wish him all the best as he continues to better his community through 
his ministry and involvement with so many worthy organizations.

                          ____________________