I1

Robert LaFrance
The Victoria Star

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

Calvary Tabernacle Pastor Rev. David Ferrell of Perth-Andover realized one of his childhood dreams this past week when, as guest chaplain for the day, he opened Thursday's session of the U.S. House of Representatives with a prayer.

Enlarge Photo

Robert Lafrance/The Victoria Star

Rev. David Ferrell of the Calvary Tabernacle Pentecostal Church was in Washington on Thursday to read the prayer that officially opened the session of the United States House of Representatives. The Perth-Andover pastor was invited by Congressman Michael Michaud of Maine’s Second District.

The 42-year-old Pentecostal pastor who has lived in Perth-Andover for more than a dozen years delivered a prepared prayer in the House of Representatives which shares the U.S. Capitol Building with the U.S. Senate.

"I was born and raised in Ohio," Rev. Ferrell said last week. He holds dual citizenship after moving to New Brunswick in the 1980s and becoming a Canadian citizen. "Ever since I was a little kid, it was always a dream of mine - I love American government and politics - to address Congress in some way. After I got my degree, I started teaching over at the University of Maine in Presque Isle and I taught a girl by the name of Rachel Smith. A few years ago, they needed somebody to sing the Canadian national anthem at the UMPI commencement and I did that and have for the past couple of years.

"Last year at the UMPI commencement, the guest speaker was Michael Michaud, a federal Congressman from Maine's Second District (Millinocket area). After the commencement, we talked for a while and then Rachel Smith came up. It turned out she was his aide. We got talking and I said off the cuff: 'You know, I've always had a dream of addressing Congress.' He looked at me and asked if I would come and do a prayer.

"A couple of weeks later I got a phone call from Washington asking for some information about myself and a little bit later I got a phone call from Rev. Daniel Coughlin who is the House of Representatives Chaplain. They lined it up, did a security background check and called me, asking if that date (Oct. 15) was okay."

Rev. Ferrell received specific instructions as to the content of his prayer - length not to exceed 150 words and other guidelines such as avoiding references to personal political views, controversies, and foreign policy. After the prayer he met with Rep. Michaud and toured several areas of the U.S. capital.

"I moved to New Brunswick as a permanent resident in 1988," Rev. Ferrell said. "We lived in Perth-Andover for a year and a half and lived in Moncton for eight months. Then I pastored in Hoyt for three and a half years, and in Woodstock for five years and have been here since 1998. When we came here, my son Anthony (who graduated this year from Southern Victoria High School) was going into Grade 1."

Rev. Ferrell and his wife Roma also have a daughter, Christiana (Chrissy), who is in Grade 11 at SVHS.

Pastor Ferrell is an endorsed chaplain to the United Pentecostal Church International, holds a Bachelor of Theology degree, a Bachelor of Behavioural Sciences degree, and an interdisciplinary Master in Humanities.

"It's an honour beyond words," he said. "Some of it was made possible by my community connections with the University of Maine and serving as a chaplain here on the Perth-Andover Fire Department, which is a great honour. They're a great group of guys. I serve on the economic development committee for the village and I am a volunteer firefighter, something I started in Hoyt."

The Washington was also something of a family reunion for the pastor.

"Two of my three brothers are going to fly in from Ohio," he said. "They're going to be there with me and watch it all unfold."

C-Span, the television channel of the U.S. Congress, broadcast the prayer Thursday morning and the opening prayer will be officially recorded in the Library of Congress.