[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 100 (Thursday, May 28, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E500-E501]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNIZING REV. DR. DALE A. MEYER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOHN SHIMKUS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 28, 2020

  Mr. SHIMKUS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
contributions of the Rev. Dr. Dale A. Meyer upon the occasion of his 
retirement as President of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis.
  In May 2005, Dr. Meyer became the 10th President of Concordia 
Seminary. Over fifteen years later, on June 30, 2020, Dr. Meyer will 
start a new season in life, retiring and turning over the reins of this 
beloved institution to new leadership.
  His contribution to the Seminary was immense. During his tenure, 
Concordia's long-term debt was eliminated, its endowment quadrupled, 
and it earned top marks from its most recent accreditation by the 
Higher Learning Commission and the Association of Theological Schools.
  From the start of his tenure to the end, Dr. Meyer worked alongside 
his wife Diane, the faculty and key staff to cultivate a culture that 
was service oriented and external facing. This meant instituting 
activities designed to instill a spirit of community volunteerism into 
first year students. This meant adding park benches on campus and 
expanding holiday displays each year so visitors knew they are welcome 
at this place. It meant working with his wife, Diane, and Gayle 
Zollmann-Kiel, Coordinator of Campus Grounds, to create community 
gardens for people to enjoy all summer and fall, thereby feeding the 
community both spiritually and figuratively. And it meant, during the 
current pandemic, having the bell tower on campus play music to lift 
the spirits of all those around.
  No wonder the Seminary received several civic awards--including being 
named among the 100 Top Workplaces St. Louis in 2015.
  Dr. Meyer's retirement marks a season of change for the Seminary. 
However, it also marks the closing of a chapter of a long career of 
service for him personally. While Dr. Meyer's first job was helping his 
parents, Arthur and Norma Meyer, deliver milk for the Dixie Dairy on 
the south side of Chicago, he was called to serve on a full and winding 
professional path. This path was so full of wonder that he would often 
marvel at the ``milk man moments'' that unfolded--remarking, ``What I 
am doing here--God has blessed me so.''
  Dr. Meyer completed his bachelor's degree in 1969 at Concordia Senior 
College in Fort Wayne, Indiana. After earning a Master of Divinity from 
Concordia Seminary in 1973, he earned a Master's degree a year later, 
and a doctorate in 1986 in classical languages from Washington 
University in St. Louis. He also is the recipient of an honorary Doctor 
of Divinity in 1993 from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, 
Indiana.
  Dr. Meyer first joined the faculty at Concordia Seminary as a guest 
instructor in

[[Page E501]]

1979, going on to serve as head pastor of St. Salvator Lutheran Church 
in Venedy, Illinois, St. Peter Lutheran Church in New Memphis, 
Illinois, and at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Collinsville, Illinois. 
These church communities are so beloved by the Meyers that they 
continue to worship at all three parishes to this day.
  It was also at Holy Cross Lutheran that I, and my wife Karen, came to 
know Dr. Meyer and his family. Our lives have been intertwined, to say 
the least: Diane sold us our first home; I taught the oldest of two 
daughters, Elizabeth, civics at Metro East Lutheran High School and ran 
the first of many 5k races to come with his youngest daughter, Katie; 
my own children played music in their daughter's wedding; my wife Karen 
served as the head organist at Holy Cross with Dale; and so on.
  Dr. Meyer moved on from Holy Cross in 1989 after being selected to 
serve as Speaker on The Lutheran Hour radio program at Lutheran Hour 
Ministries. The Lutheran Hour is the world's oldest continually 
broadcast Gospel radio program, first airing in 1930. Dr. Meyer also 
hosted the national television show On Main Street for Lutheran Hour 
Ministries. In 2001, On Main Street episodes received two prestigious 
Emmy awards from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences St. 
Louis/Mid-America Chapter. During this time, he took part in some of 
his favorite ``milk man moments,'' including opening both the U.S. 
Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives in prayer.
  In addition to his published writings, Dr. Meyer served in numerous 
leadership capacities--such as third vice-president of the Lutheran 
Church--Missouri Synod; a charter board member of the Association of 
Lutheran Older Adults; an Honorary Director of God's Word to the 
Nations Bible Society; and as a Board of Trustee of the American Bible 
Society.
  Dr. Meyer finally returned home to Concordia Seminary in St. Louis in 
2001, serving as the Gregg H. Benidt Memorial Chair in Homiletics and 
Literature. He became interim president in 2004, and the 10th president 
of the institution in 2005. For the next fifteen years, he could be 
seen working on the campus grounds, attending Bach at the Sem, and 
strolling with Ferdie, the oversized-in-body-and-heart golden retriever 
that became a quasi-mascot on campus and, sadly, recently passed away.
  Dr. Meyer likes to tell students that: ``It is great time to be the 
church.'' As the world suffers greatly from the pandemic, we are 
grateful for his efforts to raise public servants to serve all who are 
hurting, and to share the Gospel loud and clear for all to hear.
  As Dr. Meyer begins this beautiful journey of retirement, he will 
enjoy more time with his two grown daughters, Elizabeth (Lizzie) 
Pittman and Katie (Catharine) Bailey, their spouses, Darren and 
Charles, and the five grandsons that he refers to as Cinco de Meyer: 
Christian, Connor and Nicholas Pittman, and Andrew and Jacob Bailey.
  Madam Speaker, I want to personally thank Dr. Meyer and his wife 
Diane for their ministry.

                          ____________________