This year marks the 250th anniversaryNumber This is the anniversary of the opening of the First Congress (then called the Continental Congress). The first session began with a prayer. Since then, every session has begun with a prayer.
But earlier this year, 118 Prayers was launched.Number The assembly caused great uproar, and among other things the preacher dared to pray in the name of Jesus.
On January 30, 2024, at the request of House Speaker Mike Johnson, Reverend Jack Hibbs of California opened the House with a prayer. However, he did not pray “To Whom it may concern,” infuriating many on the left.
Twenty-six members of Congress, including Representative Ilhan Omar, who is Muslim, opposed Speaker Johnson’s invitation to Jack Hibbs to speak.
The lawmakers said that by inviting Hibbs, Speaker Johnson was guilty of “using his position as guest pastor to give parliamentary approval to an unqualified hate preacher who shares the Speaker’s Christian nationalist policies and antipathy to the separation of church and state.”
One can only hope that they are equally infuriated by the flood of illegal immigration and the frightening rise of anti-Semitism in America.
Jack Hibbs is pastor of Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills, California. Living in a confusion of deception.
I recently interviewed him on a radio show about this prayer incident. He said that about two-thirds of the controversial prayers were historic In the words of our Founders: “I only borrowed from our country’s history. They could not take it away.”
For example, one historical source Hibbs cited in his prayer was the Reverend John Witherspoon, who served as a representative from New Jersey to the Continental Congress.
Witherspoon, president of Princeton University, was a Founding Father who taught a biblical view of government to many of the other Founding Fathers. One of his best students was James Madison, a key architect of the Constitution.
Another historical source that Reverend Hibbs consulted was Reverend Jacob Ducher, who delivered the opening prayer at the first official opening of the First Continental Congress, which took place on September 7, 1774, at Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia.
The day before, some of the Founding Fathers had met to discuss how the first day of proceedings should begin. Should it begin with a prayer? That had been a long-standing tradition.
Some in attendance, including some who called themselves Christians, thought that might not be wise, as the men of the various Christian denominations in attendance all prayed in slightly different ways.
However, a Massachusetts Congregationalist named Samuel Adams stood up and persuaded them to pray.
His distant cousin, John Adams, told us what happened: “Mr. Samuel Adams rose and said he was no bigot, that he would hear a prayer from any pious and honorable gentleman, and at the same time a friend of his country.”
Sam Adams had heard good things about the Anglican minister, Douché, so he invited him to lead the opening prayer, and the two agreed.
The next day, September 7, 1774, Reverend Jacob Ducher led the congregation in a memorable service that included George Washington, Patrick Henry, and John Jay.
It was a very moving session and Duchess read from Psalm 35, which happened to be the Scripture reading for that day in the Anglican calendar.
In Psalm 35, David, who is unjustly persecuted, pours out his heart to God and pleads for God’s justice: “Plead my cause, O Lord; fight with those who contend with me, and with those who fight against me.”
The words seemed appropriate, as at the time British forces were preparing to approach Boston.
John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail about the influence of this psalm and the prayer meetings:
“I have never seen such a great effect on an audience. It was as if Heaven had ordained that that psalm should be read that morning. Then, what nobody expected, M. Douchet began an impromptu prayer which filled the hearts of all present. I confess that I have never heard a more beautiful prayer, a more well-pronounced prayer…. It had a wonderful effect on all present. Read that psalm.”
From that day until now, for the past two and a half centuries, Congress has begun its sessions with a prayer, though it is not always Christian or fervent.
Reverend Hibbs caused a stir by praying in the tradition of those who founded this country.
It is clear that many of the people currently serving in our government are ignorant of or even opposed to the founding of this country, which shows how far we have come from our spiritual roots as a nation.
But Patrick Henry warned us, “When the people forget God, the tyrant puts up chains.”
Dr. Jerry Newcomb is Executive Director of the Providence Forum, an outreach of D. James Kennedy Ministries, where he also serves as the Forum’s Senior Producer and On-Air Host. He has authored or co-authored 33 books, including George Washington’s Sacred Fire, with Providence Forum founder Dr. Peter Lillback, and What If Jesus Had Never Been Born, with Dr. D. James Kennedy. Read Jerry Newcomb’s report — learn more here.
