Full Text of HR1288 99th General Assembly
HR1288 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives wish to congratulate the members of St. Joseph | 4 | | Catholic Church in Stringtown on the occasion of the 175th | 5 | | anniversary of its founding; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The Parish of St. Joseph in Stringtown was | 7 | | officially established on November 5, 1841
when the first Mass | 8 | | was said in the home of Casmer Klepher; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, The first church, a log building was finished on | 10 | | February 15, 1842 and was located
eight miles northeast of | 11 | | Olney; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, The church was dedicated to St. Joseph and gave | 13 | | the people a place to gather and
worship; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, By 1879, the parish grew in size and saw the need | 15 | | for a parish school, which was
constructed one-half mile south | 16 | | of the present church; in 1907, a second school was built; a
| 17 | | third school was built to replace the first two in 1951; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, In 1887, St. Joseph Catholic Church became a part | 19 | | of the Belleville Diocese; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, In 1899, a new church - Gothic style with brick | 2 | | foundation- was started and dedicated in 1901; the parishioners | 3 | | donated their time to cut the logs and hauled them to the saw
| 4 | | mill for lumber to build the new church; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, The new church was heated by wood stoves; in 1949, | 6 | | wood stoves were
replaced by coal furnaces; coal furnaces were | 7 | | replaced by LP gas furnaces in 1956, and in 1973,
another LP | 8 | | gas furnace was installed for central heating and air | 9 | | conditioning; the church was
wired for electricity in 1939; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, A parish hall was started and completed in 1936; | 11 | | through the years, parishioners
generously donated materials | 12 | | and labor for the buildings; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, In 1988, a Parish Council was formed to establish | 14 | | goals and objectives for the
parish; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, In 2010, a new parish Hall was constructed by | 16 | | Kocher Bros. Construction, Inc. to
meet the growing needs of | 17 | | the parish; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, Through the years, the parish has practiced old | 19 | | and new traditions, including the first
parish picnic that was | 20 | | held in 1888 to help maintain parish expenses while providing | 21 | | community
socialization; St. Joseph picnics are now |
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| 1 | | consistently held on the third Sunday of
July each year; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, The Maintenance Committee maintains upkeep on | 3 | | parish grounds and buildings; the Education Committee provides | 4 | | opportunities for children to attend religious education | 5 | | classes and supports children attending catholic school in | 6 | | Olney; the Social and Service Committee provides
opportunities | 7 | | for parishioners to gather in community; the Finance Committee | 8 | | helps budget income
and expenses; and the Liturgy Committee was | 9 | | formed to help give spiritual direction to parishioners
and | 10 | | participate in the hospital, assisted living, and nursing home | 11 | | ministries; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, St. Joseph parish had a traveling pastor until | 13 | | 1901, when Rev. Henry Keuth was
assigned resident pastor; he | 14 | | was followed by 11 other resident pastors until 1977 when there
| 15 | | became a shortage of priests, which resulted in St. Joseph | 16 | | parish in Olney sharing their resident
pastor and associate | 17 | | pastor with St. Joseph in Stringtown; this continued until 1997 | 18 | | when the
Belleville Diocese decided to restructure parishes; at | 19 | | that time, the pastor of Holy Cross in Wendelin, Fr. David | 20 | | Braun, was asked to
minister at both Stringtown and Wendelin; | 21 | | and | 22 | | WHEREAS, In 2010, Fr. Mark Stec was appointed as the new | 23 | | pastor of St. Joseph in Stringtown and
Holy Cross in Wendelin; |
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| 1 | | Fr. Mark Stec continues to lead the parish family today; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, The parish community celebrated the 25th Jubilee | 3 | | of Ordained
Ministry in honor of Fr. Mark Stec on June 2, 2013; | 4 | | and | 5 | | WHEREAS, St. Joseph Catholic Church is registered as the | 6 | | second oldest church organization
in Richland County; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, There have been 27 young ladies and two young men | 8 | | from St. Joseph Parish that
have dedicated their lives to the | 9 | | service of God in religious ministry; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, The parishioners of St. Joseph Catholic Church | 11 | | grow and live their faith during this
quartoseptcentennial with | 12 | | this theme, "Living Our Faith as a Parish Family: Mericiful | 13 | | Like
the Father"; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, St. Joseph Parish in Stringtown will celebrate the | 15 | | 175th
anniversary of its founding on November 5, 2016 with a | 16 | | special Mass celebrated by Bishop Edward K. Braxton from
the | 17 | | Belleville Diocese; following the Mass, a reception will be | 18 | | held in the parish center to conclude the
activities of the | 19 | | quartoseptcentennial; therefore, be it
| 20 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
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| 1 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 2 | | congratulate the members of
the St. Joseph Parish on the 175th | 3 | | anniversary of its founding, we commend their
dedication and | 4 | | selfless service, and extend our best wishes to them for | 5 | | continued success in the
future; and be it further
| 6 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 7 | | presented to the congregation of St. Joseph Parish as an | 8 | | expression of our esteem and respect.
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