Full Text of HR1339 096th General Assembly
HR1339 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 |
| Representatives are pleased to congratulate the Reverend | 4 |
| Doctor Clay Evans of Chicago on the occasion of his 85th | 5 |
| birthday; and
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| WHEREAS, Clay Evans was born on June 23, 1925, in | 7 |
| Brownsville, Tennessee; he later moved to Chicago, where he | 8 |
| started the Fellowship Baptist Church and helped launch | 9 |
| Operation PUSH; and
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| WHEREAS, After graduating from George Washington Carver | 11 |
| High School in Brownsville, he moved to Chicago to attend | 12 |
| seminary school; he studied at the Chicago Baptist Institute, | 13 |
| the Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the University | 14 |
| of Chicago Divinity School; he was ordained a Baptist minister | 15 |
| in 1950, and in 1958 founded the Fellowship Baptist Church, | 16 |
| affectionately called "The Ship" by its parishioners, on the | 17 |
| South Side of Chicago; and
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| WHEREAS, In the pulpit, Reverend Evans developed a | 19 |
| reputation as an innovative and passionate preacher; he also | 20 |
| gained an extensive evangelical following throughout the | 21 |
| Midwest and the South, where his weekly sermons are aired on | 22 |
| radio and television; he has also influenced scores of new |
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| evangelists, as some eighty-one ministers have studied under | 2 |
| him; and
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| WHEREAS, Reverend Evans was appointed to the International | 4 |
| Committee of Reference in 1988, working to create a global | 5 |
| ministry; in 1965, he teamed up with the Reverend Jesse Jackson | 6 |
| to start Operation PUSH, one of the country's leading civil | 7 |
| rights organizations; between 1971 and 1976, he served as | 8 |
| chairman of Operation PUSH and set direction for the group; he | 9 |
| published an autobiography, From Plough Handle to Pulpit , in | 10 |
| 1982, chronicling his journey from the fields of his childhood | 11 |
| home in Tennessee to the forefront of the civil rights | 12 |
| movement; and
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| WHEREAS, Reverend Doctor Clay Evans is married to Lutha Mae | 14 |
| Hollingshed and they have five children; a celebration will be | 15 |
| held on July 12, 2010 to commemorate his life and legacy; | 16 |
| therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 18 |
| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 19 |
| congratulate Reverend Doctor Clay Evans on his 85th birthday | 20 |
| and wish him continued good health and success for years to | 21 |
| come; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |
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| presented to Reverend Doctor Clay Evans as a symbol of our | 2 |
| respect and esteem.
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