Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Reverend Tyrone Skinner of the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Altadena, California, as guest Chaplain of the House of Representatives.
Pastor Skinner embarked on his career as a preacher at a remarkably young age. He delivered his first public sermon at the age of 10. While at Bishop College in Dallas, Texas, in pursuit of his bachelor's degree, he joined the First Baptist Church of Hamilton Park. He earned his Master's of Divinity Degree from the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in 1989. One year later, he became pastor of Metropolitan Baptist Church.
Under Reverend Skinner's charismatic leadership, the Metropolitan Baptist Church has seen incredible transformations. Pastor Skinner has enriched the worship experience for 800 members and has overseen significant infrastructure improvements to the church facility. Pastor Skinner was instrumental in engaging church members in a Body and Soul program by serving as a judge at a men's cook-off and encouraging members to become more healthy physically as well as spiritually.
Pastor Skinner helped establish Praise Team, Praise Dancers, Soldiers for Christ Stomp Team, and several other ministries in the church. He also established a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the Metropolitan Community Action Services Corporation, which has been a sponsor of the Young African American Male Conference.
The list of Reverend Skinner's accomplishments is long, his altruism is broad. Last year, Metropolitan celebrated its 100th anniversary, and today is a fitting capstone to his service to the church, the community and now to the country.