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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, State Representative Monique D. Davis and the
3members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to
4congratulate the Reverend Doctor Clay Evans of Chicago on the
5occasion of his 85th birthday; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Clay Evans was born on June 23, 1925, in
7Brownsville, Tennessee; he later moved to Chicago, where he
8started the Fellowship Baptist Church and helped launch
9Operation PUSH; and
 
10    WHEREAS, After graduating from George Washington Carver
11High School in Brownsville, he moved to Chicago to attend
12seminary school; he studied at the Chicago Baptist Institute,
13the Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the University
14of Chicago Divinity School; he was ordained a Baptist minister
15in 1950, and in 1958 founded the Fellowship Baptist Church,
16affectionately called "The Ship" by its parishioners, on the
17South Side of Chicago; and
 
18    WHEREAS, In the pulpit, Reverend Evans developed a
19reputation as an innovative and passionate preacher; he also
20gained an extensive evangelical following throughout the
21Midwest and the South, where his weekly sermons are aired on
22radio and television; he has also influenced scores of new

 

 

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1evangelists, as some eighty-one ministers have studied under
2him; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Reverend Evans was appointed to the International
4Committee of Reference in 1988, working to create a global
5ministry; in 1965, he teamed up with the Reverend Jesse Jackson
6to start Operation PUSH, one of the country's leading civil
7rights organizations; between 1971 and 1976, he served as
8chairman of Operation PUSH and set direction for the group; he
9published an autobiography, From Plough Handle to Pulpit, in
101982, chronicling his journey from the fields of his childhood
11home in Tennessee to the forefront of the civil rights
12movement; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Reverend Doctor Clay Evans is married to Lutha Mae
14Hollingshed and they have five children; a celebration will be
15held on July 12, 2010 to commemorate his life and legacy;
16therefore, be it
 
17    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
18NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
19congratulate Reverend Doctor Clay Evans on his 85th birthday
20and wish him continued good health and success for years to
21come; and be it further
 
22    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be

 

 

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1presented to Reverend Doctor Clay Evans as a symbol of our
2respect and esteem.