SR0781 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0781 LRB101 15011 MST 64044 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Reverend Richard Billings of Oak Park, who passed away on February 18, 2019 at the age of 94; and

WHEREAS, Reverend Billings was born on August 30, 1924 on a farm near Wyandot, Ohio; and

WHEREAS, Reverend Billings completed grade school in a one-room schoolhouse; he went to high school in the town of Bucyrus and furthered his education at Ohio State University in Columbus, where he was drafted into military service; and

WHEREAS, Reverend Billings served three years of military service in the Pacific, where he was torpedoed and endured other horrors of war; he was discharged in January of 1946; and

WHEREAS, Reverend Billings finished his degree in fine arts and education while working as a waiter; he then worked in the fashion industry and became a high-fashion designer with a shop on Oak Street in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood; and

WHEREAS, Reverend Billings sold the boutique shop and travelled to Unity Village in Missouri to train at the Unity School of Christianity, where he became an ordained Unity minister; his ministry service took him to Santa Monica, California and Detroit and Lansing, Michigan, before he moved to Oak Park in the summer of 1967; and

WHEREAS, Reverend Billings served as minister of Unity of Oak Park for 50 years and taught at Unity School; he was responsible for the existence of four other Unity Centers in the Chicagoland area, as well as at least 50 liaison interventions throughout the U.S. "putting troubled centers back on course"; and

WHEREAS, When Reverend Billings began his ministry in Oak Park, 35 people purchased a fixer-upper mansion intended to be the church's building; it was paid for, improved upon, and regularly drew an attendance of 400-500 congregants and had a mailing list of 1,800; and

WHEREAS, During Reverend Billings ministry, Unity of Oak Park became a healing ministry, attracting people who wanted to improve themselves and their understanding of life; he took congregants on regular trips to at least 70 countries, taught at Unity School, and was a guest speaker for many centers, including at his good friend Johnnie Colman's center on the South Side; he spoke in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for a crowd of over 2,000 on three occasions, once with Maya Angelou; and

WHEREAS, Later in his life and due to health issues, Reverend Billings tailored his ministry to include counseling on Fridays and Saturdays; he continued to raise nearly $60,000 to help the center using "truth principles"; and

WHEREAS, In September of 2017, Reverend Billings's tenure at the center ended; he penned a biography titled My Soul Remembers, where he writes, "For some of us, the search goes on half-heartedly; for others, it is a serious business. We all have our moments."; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Reverend Richard Billings and extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Reverend Richard Billings as an expression of our deepest sympathy.