[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 20]
[House]
[Page 29493]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



   THANKS TO REVEREND DR. RONALD F. CHRISTIAN FOR LONG AND FAITHFUL 
                          SERVICE TO THE HOUSE

  (Mr. DAVIS of Virginia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to give my 
personal thanks and those of the House of Representatives to the 
Reverend Dr. Ronald Christian, who was our guest chaplain today and has 
just led us in the beautiful opening prayer.
  But in a sense Dr. Christian is not a guest in this Chamber, for 
during the last 20 years he has served as an unofficial chaplain in the 
House and since 1979 he has assisted Dr. Ford with the duties of the 
chaplaincy and participated in all the activities associated with that 
office. He has given the opening prayer on more than 90 occasions and 
has been available for pastoral counsel for Members and staff.
  Dr. Christian grew up on a farm in Illinois and attended a country 
church where his mother was the church organist. He was graduated from 
the Luther College in Iowa and Luther Seminary in Minnesota and in 1979 
he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Ministry from Luther College. He 
was the founding pastor of Lord of Life Church in Fairfax, Virginia, 
and under his leadership the church grew to be one the largest Lutheran 
churches in the metropolitan area.
  He is married to Judy Christian and they have two children, Matthew 
and Mary Jo. Dr. Christian is now the Director and Chaplain of Lutheran 
Social Services in Northern Virginia.
  We are honored that Dr. Christian was our chaplain today, and we 
thank him for the 20 years of faithful service to the House.

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