Political Quotes

“Madam President, it is a privilege today to honor the Rev. Dr. Mark E. Dever on the occasion of his 30th anniversary as senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, here in Washington, DC. Mark Dever was born in Madisonville, KY, in 1960. Initially a skeptic, he became a Christian as a teenager and went on to study at Duke University, where he met his wife Connie. Preparing for a life in academia, Dr. Dever completed degrees at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, before earning a Ph.D. inecclesiastical history from Cambridge University. Providence had plans other than academia, however. In January 1993, Dr. Dever was invited to apply for the recently vacated pulpit on Capitol Hill. To the surprise of many, he did--and has pastored in the shadow of the Capitol ever since. Since his installation as pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Dr. Dever has not hesitated to preach ``the whole counsel of God,'' Acts 20:27. Under his faithful leadership, the church has grown from a few hundred to a thriving congregation of nearly a thousand. In January 1995, that same leadership was felt in this Chamber, when he briefly served the Senate as interim chaplain. Dr. Dever has dedicated his life to the work of the ministry and to the idea that a pastor should preach, pray, love, and stay. And those who have been blessed enough to know him or to be members at his church know he embodies that ideal.…”