Full Text of HR1076 94th General Assembly
HR1076 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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HR1076 |
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LRB094 19966 HSS 57359 r |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the | 3 |
| State of Illinois are pleased to recognize the 100th | 4 |
| anniversary of the founding of Bethany United Church of Christ | 5 |
| in Freeport; and
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| WHEREAS, When people first moved to Freeport, they found | 7 |
| themselves without a
Reformed Church that spoke English; a | 8 |
| Sunday School was started by C.G. Beaver, a seminary student, | 9 |
| during the summer of 1906; they met in the Third Presbyterian | 10 |
| Church in July of 1906; and
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| WHEREAS, On October 7, 1906, Rev. R. F. Schultz took up the | 12 |
| work with the intention of establishing a church; Rev. C. M. | 13 |
| Rohrbaugh became the new pastor in December, 1906, with a | 14 |
| membership of 16 members with an average age over 65 years; and
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| WHEREAS, The corner of South Galena and South Carroll was | 16 |
| purchased from the Barnes family in April, 1908, for the | 17 |
| purpose of building a church facility; church membership in | 18 |
| 1908 was 60 members; the ground breaking for the building was | 19 |
| Easter Sunday, April 13, 1908; the building was erected during | 20 |
| the summer of 1908, six months after ground breaking; and
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| WHEREAS, Two services were held in the early years of the | 22 |
| church, one in the morning and one in the evening, and both | 23 |
| sermons were different; the summer of 1940 saw the start of a | 24 |
| summer exchange with St. John Church, with the pastor of | 25 |
| Bethany preaching the month of August and St. John's pastor | 26 |
| preaching the month of July; this summer exchange continued | 27 |
| until 1978 with some variations; and
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| WHEREAS, The name was changed from First English Reformed | 29 |
| to First English Evangelical & Reformed, and in January of | 30 |
| 1958, it was changed to Bethany United Church of Christ; and
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HR1076 |
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LRB094 19966 HSS 57359 r |
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| WHEREAS, Ground breaking for the Stephenson Street | 2 |
| location was June 7, 1987; the stained glass windows depicting | 3 |
| Christ as a child of 12 and as an adult were removed from the | 4 |
| Carroll Street church and mounted on each side of the pulpit in | 5 |
| the new Stephenson Street church with artificial lighting | 6 |
| behind; the organ, four pulpit chairs, and the carillon were | 7 |
| moved to the new location; and the communion table and pulpit | 8 |
| were moved to be used in Fellowship Hall; and | 9 |
| WHEREAS, The last service at the Carroll and Galena | 10 |
| location was held on February 12, 1989; the first service at | 11 |
| the Stephenson Street location was held February 19, 1989, in | 12 |
| Fellowship Hall even though it was not completed; the | 13 |
| dedication for the new church on Stephenson Street was held on | 14 |
| April 23, 1989; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 16 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 17 |
| we congratulate the members of the Bethany United Church of | 18 |
| Christ on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the church's | 19 |
| founding; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 21 |
| presented to Bethany United Church of Christ as an expression | 22 |
| of our esteem.
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