Lloyd John Ogilvie

He entered college intending to study drama and perhaps become a star. Lloyd Ogilvie answered a call to preach instead and ended up in Hollywood anyway. Now, after 23 years of working with the rich and famous through the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, he serves another group of powerful people -- the United States Senate in Washington, D.C.

While prayer may be outlawed in many schools, it happens daily in the chambers of our nation's lawmakers, according to Dr. Ogilvie, 61st chaplain of the U.S. Senate. He should know: he opens each day's session with prayer before he begins his busy schedule of Bible studies and counseling for some 6,000 people.

Ogilvie, 67, has a high-profile position that requires a great deal of flexibility. First, he prays in the Senate, and that two-minute prayer is entered into the Congressional Record. He never knows until the night before, just when that prayer time will be.

"It's no earlier than 8:30, or as late as 1:00. You can't plan your day, or you plan it with the understanding that you may have to change it," he explained during a fall interview in San Diego, "Then I have a time each day for my own preparation for the Bible studies that I lead. Then I do a great deal of counseling."

Every day, he also leads Bible studies -- for Senators, for spouses, for chief executive officers of senate staffs, for the senate staff as a whole, and with small groups of senators for lunch. At special state occasions, he is often called upon to represent the Senate with a prayer or message.

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