Peter Marshall (May 27, 1902-January 25, 1949) was the Chaplain of the U.S. Senate, 1947-49. At the age of 25, Peter Marshall emigrated from Scotland, arriving at New York's Ellis Island in 1927.
Members of his Sunday School class paid his way to seminary in Atlanta, where he graduated and was ordained in 1931.
Rev. Peter Marshall pastored a small church in Covington, Georgia, then preached at Atlanta's Westminster Presbyterian Church.
There he met Catherine Wood, a student at Agnes Scott College, and they married. Catherine Marshall's book on Peter's life, A Man Called Peter, was turned into a major motion-picture by Twentieth-Century Fox. Her novel, Christy, was made into a CBS television series.
In 1937, at the age of 35, he became pastor of Washington, D.C.'s prestigious New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, whose ministers spoke to Presidents, Cabinet members, and Supreme Court Justices. At the laying of the cornerstone of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, April 3, 1951, President Harry S Truman stated:
<New York Avenue Presbyterian Church has played an important part in the history of Washington. For almost 150 years a Presbyterian congregation has worshiped on or near this spot. During all that period, this church has preached the Christian message to this busy Capital City.> 1902PM001
At the cornerstone laying ceremony, Rev. Peter Marshall's young son, Peter John Marshall, gave President Truman a New Testament, to which the President responded:
<Well, thank you very much for this Testament. I appreciate very much having it. And all I can say to you is, I hope you will grow up to be as good a man as your father.> 1902PM002
Peter John Marshall (January 21, 1940-September 8, 2010) was an author, who, together with co-author David Manuel (September 24, 1936-April 25, 2013), wrote many best-selling books, including: The Light and the Glory (1977); From Sea to Shining Sea (1986); and Sounding Forth The Trumpet (1998, which chronicle the Providential expansion of liberty throughout American history.
Rev. Peter Marshall became a U.S. citizen in 1938. He was asked to preach the Christmas Sermon to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his family.
After World War II ended and as the Korean War began, the U.S. Senate appointed Peter Marshall to be their Chaplain on January 4, 1947. He prayed:
<O Lord our God, even at this moment as we come blundering into Thy presence in prayer, we are haunted by memories of duties unperformed, promptings disobeyed, and beckonings ignored. Opportunities to be kind knocked on the door of our hearts and went weeping away.> 1902PM003
On January 13, 1947, U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall admonished Americans:
<The choice before us is plain: Christ or chaos, conviction or compromise, discipline or disintegration. I am rather tired of hearing about our rights and privileges as American citizens. The time is come-it is now-when we ought to hear about the duties and responsibilities of our citizenship. America's future depends upon her accepting and demonstrating God's government.> 1902PM004
On May 22, 1947, during the 80th Congress, Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall offered the prayer:
<God of our fathers, give unto us, thy servants, a true appreciation of our heritage, of great men and great deeds in the past, but let us not be intimidated by feelings of our own inadequacies for this troubled hour.
Remind us that the God they worshipped, and by whose help they laid the foundations of our Nation, is still able to help us uphold what they bequeathed and give it meaning.> 1902PM005
On July 3, 1947, the day before Independence Day, U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall opened the Eightieth Congress with the prayer:
<God of our Fathers, whose Almighty hand hath made and preserved our Nation, grant that our people may understand what it is they celebrate tomorrow. May they remember how bitterly our freedom was won, the down payment that was made for it, the installments that have been made since this Republic was born, and the price that must be paid for our liberty. May freedom be seen not as the right to do as we please but as the opportunity to please to do what is right.
May it be ever understood that our liberty is under God and can be found nowhere else. May our faith be something that is not merely stamped upon our coins, but expressed in our lives. Let us, as a nation, be not afraid of standing alone for the rights of men, since we were born that way, as the only nation on earth that came into being 'for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith.'
We know that we shall be true to the Pilgrim dream when we are true to the God they worshiped. To the extent that America honors Thee, wilt Thou bless America, and keep her true as Thou hast kept her free, and make her good as Thou hast made her rich. Amen.> 1902PM006
Peter Marshall stated:
<The modern challenge to motherhood is the eternal challenge - that of being a godly woman. The very phrase sounds strange in our ears. We never hear it now. We hear about every other type of women: beautiful women, smart women, sophisticated women, career women, talented women, divorced women. But so seldom do we hear of a godly woman--or of a godly man either, for that matter.
I believe women come nearer to fulfilling their God-given function in the home than anywhere else. It is a much nobler thing to be a good wife, than to be Miss America. It is a greater achievement to establish a Christian home than it is to produce a second-rate novel filled with filth. It is a far, far better thing in the realms of morals to be old fashioned, than to be ultra-modern.
The world has enough women who know how to be smart. It needs women who are willing to be simple. The world has enough women who know how to be brilliant. It needs some who will be brave. The world has enough women who are popular. It needs more who are pure. We need women, and men, too, who would rather be morally right than socially correct.> 1902PM007
Peter Marshall died of a heart attack in 1949 at the age of 45. Just 6 months before he died, June 11, 1948, U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall opened Congress with the prayer:
<Help us, our Father, to show other nations an America to imitate...the America that loves fair play, honest dealing, straight talk, real freedom and faith in God.> 1902PM008
--
American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
1902PM001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Peter Marshall. Harry S Truman, April 3, 1951, laying of the cornerstone of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C., with Dr. George M. Docherty, pastor
1902PM002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Peter Marshall. Harry S Truman, April 3, 1951, laying of the cornerstone of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C., with Dr. George M. Docherty, pastor
1902PM003. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Peter Marshall. January 4, 1947, prayer after being appointed U.S. Senate Chaplain http://www.christianity.com/ChurchHistory/11630785/
1902PM004. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Peter Marshall, 1947, in a message as Chaplain of the United States Senate. Robert Flood, The Rebirth of America (Philadelphia: Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation, 1986), p. 205. Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Glory of America (Bloomington, MN: Garborg's Heart 'N Home, Inc., 1991), 1.13.
1902PM005. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Peter Marshall, May 22, 1947, in a prayer given during the Eightieth Congress. Catherine Marshall, ed., The Prayers of Peter Marshall (NY: McGraw Hill Book Company, Inc., 1949), p. 173. Charles Wallis, ed., Our American Heritage (NY: Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., 1970), p. 11.
1902PM006. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Peter Marshall, July 3, 1947, in a prayer before the Eightieth Congress. Catherine Marshall, ed., The Prayers of Peter Marshall (NY: McGraw Hill Book Company, Inc., 1949), p. 186. Robert Flood, The Rebirth of America (The Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation, 1986), back cover.
1902PM007. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Peter Marshall. Statement. http://avirtuousheart.blogspot.com/p/quotes.html http://www.biblebc.com/Studies/Bow_the_knee/holy_spirit_in_the_home.htm
http://www.cambridgepres.org.uk/nl/nl0406.html
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?id=womanhood
1902PM008. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Peter Marshall, June 11, 1948, in a prayer in the United States Congress. Catherine Marshall, ed., The Prayers of Peter Marshall (NY: McGraw Hill Book Company, Inc., 1949), p. 233. Charles Wallis, ed., Our American Heritage (NY: Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., 1970), p. 208.