Free Republic

New leadership in the state House of Representatives has apparently opened the door for a local pastor to give the opening prayer at an upcoming legislative session. The Rev. Gerald Stoltzfoos, who in 2009 turned down an invitation to give the opening prayer because he was asked to delete a reference to Jesus, has been reinvited by Rep. Will Tallman, R-Reading Township, to give an invocation on the House floor. "They want to prove they are a different organization than they were," said Stoltzfoos, lead pastor at Freedom Valley Worship Center in Straban Township. "They're asking me to do it."