By Tricia Pursell
NEW COLUMBIA — The Rev. Ricky Phillips suffered from crippling seizures until he was 9 years old.
And then, the miracle happened.
“My parents took me to a healing service,” he said. “I was anointed, and when the doctors called me back the next week, everything had disappeared.”
After that, he vowed to become a minister.
But first, he pursued a degree in political science from Penn State in 1992.
On Thursday, the 40-year-old New Columbia resident will be able to combine the two when he travels to Washington, D.C., and stands before the entire Senate to deliver the opening prayer for the day’s session.
Twice last year Phillips served as guest chaplain for the state House of Representatives, first nominated by Rep. Camille Bud George, of Clearfield, in January, and then Rep. Merle Phillips, of Sunbury, in March. George later endorsed Phillips as a guest chaplain for the U.S. Senate by sending a letter to Sen. Bob Casey, of Pennsylvania.
The experience will be a dream come true for Phillips.
“I always wanted to go to Washington and serve as a chaplain in the Senate,” he said. “It’s an honor just to say the prayer.”
Praying was one of the first things the governmental body did when it was formed, Phillips said. The first prayer was offered during the Constitutional Convention.
The importance of the prayer is not only because of its historical tradition. To lift up their hands to God, to seek Him for guidance, is something that is so desperately needed — “not only today, but for the future,” Phillips said.
After all, Phillips said, America was founded as one nation under God.
His prayer will be for the senators to seek God, and for God to act on behalf of the senators. It will also focus on diversity, he said, and how the many talents represented on the floor can be used to help those in need.
While in Washington, Phillips, along with his wife and three children, also plans to visit the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America advocacy office. He serves on the policy council of Pennsylvania Lutheran Advocation Ministry in Pennsylvania, where he works to support bills that help the poor, the elderly, and other underprivileged citizens.
“I like the fact of being able to work to help people,” Phillips said, “to help people who can’t help themselves.”
A minister for five years, Phillips is in his fourth year as pastor to the congregations of the Mazeppa Union Church and St. Johns Church of Dry Valley.
He is also the chaplain for the Evangelical Hospice, and is a Yokefellow volunteer at the Lewisburg Penitentiary.
Before becoming a minister, Phillips served in campus law enforcement at Bucknell University, and drove to Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary three days a week for his master’s degree in divinity. Right before he graduated, he was activated in the 28th Division of the National Guard as a chaplain; for 14 months, he ran a center that was created to help families who had loved ones deployed to Bosnia and Germany.
Phillips then became ordained the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. He also has ministry status in the United Church of Christ. He is currently studying systematic theology at Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary.
