Reverend Duane H. Ramsey · 1997 Honoree

Duane Ramsey, with 45 years at the Washington City Church of the Brethren, has amassed one of Capitol Hill’s longest continuous careers. The longevity of his services is matched by his constancy of purpose.

Consistent with his church membership, he is a Conscientious Objector and was performing alternative service in Bowie, Maryland just after World War II. During this period Duane came into the city to worship at the church on the corner of Fourth and North Carolina, S.E. It was then, as now, the only Church of the Brethren congregation in Washington and it has always drawn its cosmopolitan membership from throughout the city and beyond. Duane, who as a youngster in his native Kansas longed for an urban environment, still savors his first memories of the church and its large congregation.

Duane soon left the area, but returned with his bride to become the church’s Assistant Minister in 1952. The following year, the congregation chose him as its new Senior Minister. The Ramseys have been here ever since and raised their five children in the church and in Washington’s public schools.

Armed with the conviction that a church should not exist without serving the community around it, Duane redirected the congregation’s focus toward a ministry to the Hill’s almost constantly changing population. Initially, that meant developing child-centered programs such as constructing the educational building and implementing sports and after school programs. When the large population of working families, with several children each, changed to under-employed, unemployed and frequently homeless adults, the church responded. Through Duane’s “suasion by teaching and preaching” the congregation provided tutoring and cooking classes. In 1980 the soup kitchen evolved from a Friendship House lunch program for the elderly. With each change, Duane has seized the opportunity to be what he considers the most vital point of his ministry, “a presence of compassion and care for people who are desperate;” and he has challenged the rest of us to do likewise.

Duane Ramsey’s impact on Capitol Hill can best be measured by the growth of our community’s response to human need.