May 28, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 100 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session
RECOGNIZING REV. DR. DALE A. MEYER; Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 100
(Extensions of Remarks - May 28, 2020)
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[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. ____________________