Full Text of HR0080 97th General Assembly
HR0080 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are pleased to congratulate B.J. Gaston on the | 4 | | occasion of his retirement as Pastor of the Mt. Zion Baptist | 5 | | Church in Zion after 47 years of dedicated service; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Bennie James Gaston is the sixth son born to | 7 | | Rayfield and Dasie Gaston; at the age of 11, B.J. Gaston | 8 | | accepted Christ as his personal savior; he was united in holy | 9 | | matrimony to Rose Broome on June 25, 1957; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, At the age of 20, B.J. Gaston entered the United | 11 | | States Army and was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division; | 12 | | after serving for two years, he was given an honorable | 13 | | discharge; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Pastor Gaston completed a two-year program at | 15 | | Concordia Bible College in Milwaukee; he also earned a bachelor | 16 | | of theology degree and a master of divinity degree from | 17 | | McKinley Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi and has | 18 | | been awarded doctor of divinity, doctor of laws, and doctor of | 19 | | humane letters degrees from the Tennessee School of Religion; | 20 | | and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, Pastor Gaston accepted the divine call into the |
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| 1 | | ministry in 1957; he preached his first sermon on April 5, | 2 | | 1957, at the Tabernacle Community Baptist Church in Milwaukee, | 3 | | Wisconsin under the leadership of the now deceased Rev. J. L. | 4 | | Williams; in 1959, he was ordained as a gospel preacher and was | 5 | | also elected assistant pastor of Tabernacle Community Baptist | 6 | | Church, where he served faithfully; in 1964, he was called to | 7 | | pastor the Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Zion, where he has served | 8 | | his congregation, the community, and God faithfully for 47 | 9 | | years; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, During Pastor Gaston's tenure, Mt. Zion Baptist | 11 | | Church has undergone numerous substantial improvements; the | 12 | | church has grown in membership from 40 to over 1,000; the | 13 | | church's Mt. Zion Sheila Day Care Center, church edifice, and | 14 | | Mt. Zion multi-purpose building were built, furnished, and paid | 15 | | off; the church received $1.2 million from HUD and built the | 16 | | B.J. Gaston Bethesda Village 40-unit elderly and handicapped | 17 | | complex; the Mt. Zion Credit Union, a charter member of the | 18 | | Illinois State Credit Union League, was created; the church | 19 | | also started its own website under his leadership; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Pastor Gaston served as president of the North | 21 | | Shore Baptist Ministers' Alliance for a total of 21 years; | 22 | | under his leadership, the organization started the Martin | 23 | | Luther King, Jr. memorial service, the tri-city revival, and | 24 | | Good Friday services; he is the President and founder of the |
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| 1 | | North Shore Bible College and Theological Seminary, Inc., now | 2 | | called the North Shore Theological Seminary, Inc.; he is also a | 3 | | past vice-moderator of the New Era District Fellowship (Chicago | 4 | | vicinity) and a member of the National Urban League, the NAACP, | 5 | | and the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, Pastor Gaston has been the recipient of numerous | 7 | | awards and honors for his service in his community; in 1981, he | 8 | | received a proclamation from the City of Waukegan; in 1987, he | 9 | | received the keys to the City of Zion from Mayor Howard | 10 | | Everline; in 1990, he received a resolution of commendation | 11 | | from Zion Mayor Adeline Geo-Karis and an outstanding community | 12 | | service designation from Illinois State Representative John | 13 | | Matejevich; in 1997, he received the keys to the City of North | 14 | | Chicago from Mayor Bobby Thompson; that same year, he received | 15 | | an honorary street sign from the City of Zion and was named the | 16 | | most influential African-American of Lake County by People's | 17 | | Voice; in 1999, he was listed in the Nationwide Register's | 18 | | Who's Who in Executives and Businesses 2000-2001 edition; in | 19 | | 2004, he was named Man of the Year by the American Biographical | 20 | | Institute, USA and received a letter of congratulations from | 21 | | the office of Governor Rod Blagojevich; and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, Pastor Gaston serves as a model of hard work, | 23 | | integrity, and dedication for the people of the State of | 24 | | Illinois; therefore, be it
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 2 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 3 | | we congratulate B.J. Gaston on the occasion of his retirement | 4 | | and wish him many happy and healthy retirement years; and be it | 5 | | further
| 6 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 7 | | presented to B.J. Gaston as a symbol of our esteem and respect.
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