(January 31, 1738\u2013January 3, 1798), was the Anglican clergyman. At the request of the Continental Congress, opened the first session of Congress with prayer. As recorded in the Journals of the Continental Congress,<\/i> the first official act of Congress, immediately upon receiving the news that British troops had attacked Boston, was to open in prayer:<\/p>\n
Tuesday, September 6, 1774. Resolved, That the Rev. Mr. Duch\u00e9 be desired to open the Congress tomorrow morning with prayers, at the Carpenter\u2019s Hall, at 9 o\u2019clock.1152 <\/p>\n
The 35th Psalm, the Psalter for September 7th, was read by Rev. Mr. Duch\u00e9 in the first Continental Congress:<\/p>\n
Plead my cause, Oh, Lord, with them that strive with me, fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of buckler and shield, and rise up for my help. Draw also the spear and the battle-axe to meet those who pursue me; Say to my soul, \u201cI am your salvation.\u201d Let those be ashamed and dishonored who seek my life; Let those be turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me.1153<\/p>\n
Rev. Mr. Duch\u00e9 in Carpenter\u2019s Hall, Philadelphia, proceeded extemporaneously to offer the First Prayer in Congress<\/i> on September 7, 1774:<\/p>\n
Be Thou present, O God of Wisdom, and direct the counsel of this Honorable Assembly; enable them to settle all things on the best and surest foundations; that the scene of blood may be speedily closed; that Order, Harmony and Peace may be effectually restored, and that Truth and Justice, Religion and Piety, prevail and flourish among the people.<\/p>\n
Preserve the health of their bodies, and the vigor of their minds, shower down on them, and the millions they here represent, such temporal Blessings as Thou seest expedient for them in this world, and crown them with everlasting Glory in the world to come. All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son and our Saviour, Amen.1154<\/p>\n
The Journals of Congress<\/i> record Congress\u2019 appreciation to Rev. Mr. Duch\u00e9:<\/p>\n
Wednesday, September 7, 1774, 9 o\u2019clock a.m. Agreeable to the resolve of yesterday, the meeting was opened with prayers by the Rev. Mr. Duch\u00e9. Voted, That the thanks of Congress be given to Mr. Duch\u00e9 \u2026 for performing divine Service, and for the excellent prayer, which he composed and delivered on the occasion.1155<\/p>\n
On May 17, 1776, The Journals of Congress<\/i> recorded:<\/p>\n
Resolved,<\/i> That the Rev. Mr. Duch\u00e9 be appointed chaplain to Congress, and that he be desired to attend every morning at 9 O\u2019Clock.1156<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(January 31, 1738\u2013January 3, 1798), was the Anglican clergyman. At the request of the Continental Congress, opened the first session of Congress with prayer. As recorded in the Journals of the Continental Congress, the first official act of Congress, immediately upon receiving the news that British troops had attacked Boston, was to open in prayer: … Continue reading “DUCH\u00e9,
\nJACOB”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15665\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}