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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are pleased to congratulate the congregation
4of the Willow United Methodist Church on the occasion of the
5church's 150th anniversary; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Religious meetings in the Willow community were
7first held in storefronts, schoolhouses, and private homes by
8circuit riders of the Mormon and Methodist churches shortly
9after the area was settled in 1833; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The construction of the Willow Methodist
11Episcopal Church was begun in the fall of 1860 on land donated
12by the family of James Parkinson; the construction was only
13just beginning in April of 1861 when the American Civil War
14began, and many of Willow's young men left to serve their
15country and never returned to see a service held in the
16finished church; and
 
17    WHEREAS, On December 19, 1861, a declaration was filed at
18the courthouse in Galena making the "Willow First Methodist
19Episcopal Church, Morseville Circuit, Freeport District, Rock
20River Conference" official; the church's first service of
21record was preached in the newly completed Willow church by
22Reverend F. Winslow; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, The Willow United Methodist Church has served the
2people of Willow continuously since 1861; the axe markings on
3the hand-hewn timbers laid for the foundation of the church are
4still visible today in the open ceiling of the basement
5Community Room; physical improvements to the church building
6have been ongoing over the century and a half of its existence,
7including a bell installed in the bell tower in 1882,
8electricity run from a neighbor's Delco Battery Farm Plant in
91920, a basement that was begun in 1923 and completed in 1936,
10and a Narthex addition in 2007; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Over 80 different Pastors have served the Willow
12United Methodist Church, beginning with the Reverend F.
13Winslow, and including the Reverend George Gable, who served 3
14separate tenures from 1897 to 1931, all the way up to the
15church's current Pastor, the Reverend Mike Jones; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Service to the people of Willow and their extended
17community has always been a prime focus of the Willow United
18Methodist Church; during the Great Depression, the Ladies Aid
19Society canned fruits and vegetables and donated them, along
20with hand-made pillows and quilts and dozens of eggs, to
21Freeport's Wesley Memorial Hospital; at the onset of World War
22II, the women volunteered their services at the USO club in
23Savanna, and shipped packages, in June and again in December,

 

 

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1to each of the 15 local boys who were serving in the Armed
2Forces; the Willow Valley Folk Festival was begun in 1968 as a
3fundraising tool to keep the doors of the church open during a
4time of financial crisis; the festival has since become a much
5anticipated annual event for the church, hosting thousands each
6year and allowing the Willow Methodist Church to continue its
7mission of service to its community and the world at large; and
 
8    WHEREAS, The Willow United Methodist Church and its
9congregation serves as models of hard work, integrity, and
10dedication for the people of the State of Illinois; therefore,
11be it
 
12    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
13NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
14congratulate the congregation of the Willow United Methodist
15Church on the occasion of the church's 150th anniversary and
16wish them continued success and happiness in the future; and be
17it further
 
18    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
19presented to Reverend Mike Jones, Pastor of the Willow United
20Methodist Church, as a symbol of our esteem and respect.