HR0688 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0688 LRB102 26460 MST 36899 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to congratulate the Rev. Dr. Craig Melvin Smith on celebrating 50 years of preaching, from 1972 to 2022; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Smith is the Senior Pastor of the Freedom Baptist Church of the Greater Chicago Area in Hillside; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Smith was born and raised in Peoria, the third of seven children; he was called to preach the Gospel in 1972 in his junior year at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Smith preached his first sermon at his home church, the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church of Peoria, in February of 1972; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Smith was ordained at his home church in April of 1974; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Smith's structured academic and pastoral-theological preparation has earned him a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois in 1973, a Master of Divinity from the Northern Baptist Seminary in 2003, and a Doctor of Ministry from the United Theological Seminary in 2009; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Smith started the Freedom Baptist Church on April 9, 2000, and over 2,500 people have called Freedom Hillside their church home since the first worship service was held in the Hillside Theater; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Smith's previous professional and pastoral assignments have included serving as a personal banker for a commercial national bank, as a crime analyst for the Peoria Police Department, as a pastor for Providence Baptist Church, and as a pastor of the Metropolitan Baptist Church of the Westside in Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Smith is in his 20th year as a senior pastor and teacher at Freedom Baptist Church; he preaches Sunday worship services and regularly teaches two Bible classes weekly, Men of the Bible (MOB) and Word on Wednesday; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Smith has dedicated 50 years to the ministry of worship and to work for his community; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the Rev. Dr. Craig Melvin Smith on celebrating 50 years of preaching, and we wish him many more wonderful years; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Rev. Smith as a symbol of our respect and esteem.