[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 45 (Friday, April 15, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E656]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          HONORING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF BISHOP DAVID COPELAND

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. HENRY CUELLAR

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 14, 2005

  Mr. CUELLAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Bishop David M. 
Copeland for his dedicated ministry to the people of San Antonio.
  David Copeland is a native of Buffalo, New York, and received his 
early spiritual training in the Baptist Church. He completed his 
undergraduate education at the State University of New York at 
Brockport, where he received his bachelor's degree in Sociology and 
Speech Communications. He earned his Master of Divinity in Church 
Administration at the Interdenominational Theological Center in 
Atlanta, Georgia. He was baptized into the Church of God in Christ at 
the age of 18, and was called to the ministry in 1969.
  Bishop Copeland was the founding Pastor of the Good Shepherd Church 
of God in Christ in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as serving as the 
Chaplain and Deputy Sheriff of Dekalb County, Georgia. He has a history 
of taking on especially challenging ministries; he and his wife were 
the first active duty African American couple in the United States Air 
Force Chaplaincy, and he is a board member of the Fellowship of Inner 
City Word of Faith Ministries (FICWFM).
  Bishop Copeland currently serves as the Senior Pastor of the New 
Creation Christian Fellowship of San Antonio, Texas. His church has 
grown and thrived under his leadership, purchasing new facilities and 
increasing its membership. His 35 years of ministry have changed 
countless lives for the better, and have strengthened all of the 
communities in which he has lived and worked.
  Bishop Copeland is a blessing to the people of Texas, and I am proud 
to have the opportunity to thank him today.

                          ____________________