Full Text of HR1420 95th General Assembly
HR1420 95TH 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 Bishop Arthur M. | 4 |
| Brazier of the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago on the | 5 |
| occasion of his retirement after 48 years of dedicated service; | 6 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, Bishop Arthur M. Brazier served his country with | 8 |
| pride and distinction as a member of the U.S. Army during World | 9 |
| War II, which included tours of duty in China, Burma, and | 10 |
| India; he earned two battle stars for his efforts in the North | 11 |
| Burma and Central Burma campaigns; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1948, Bishop Arthur M. Brazier began working as | 13 |
| a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, but felt the | 14 |
| calling to preach; inspired by this calling, he attended Moody | 15 |
| Bible Institute at night and became pastor of the Universal | 16 |
| Church of Christ in 1952; in 1960, Bishop Brazier merged his | 17 |
| congregation with the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago's | 18 |
| Woodlawn community and formed a new congregation; and
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| WHEREAS, Bishop Arthur M. Brazier became increasingly | 20 |
| involved in community activism and civil rights during the | 21 |
| expansion of his church in the 1960s; inspired by his meetings | 22 |
| with community organizer Saul Alinsky, he became the founding |
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| president of The Woodlawn Organization, a coalition that | 2 |
| successfully defeated the expansion of the University of | 3 |
| Chicago in 1963; Bishop Brazier worked to combat gang violence | 4 |
| and crime in the neighborhood by initiating social programs for | 5 |
| rival gangs through the organization; after meeting Dr. Martin | 6 |
| Luther King Jr. in 1966, the two protested together against | 7 |
| segregated housing and schools, bravely facing death threats | 8 |
| for his honorable work; and
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| WHEREAS, A telling measure of the incredible leadership | 10 |
| skills and religious devotion of Bishop Arthur M. Brazier is | 11 |
| the incredible growth of The Apostolic Church of God, which has | 12 |
| grown from about 100 members in 1960 into the current | 13 |
| congregation of more than 20,000 members; during his tenure, | 14 |
| Bishop Brazier oversaw several expansion projects at the | 15 |
| church, including a 3,000-seat sanctuary, the addition of | 16 |
| television control facilities, a 400-seat banquet facility, | 17 |
| and a 37,000-square-foot youth and family center that contains | 18 |
| a regulation-sized basketball court, classrooms, a music room, | 19 |
| and a dance studio; and
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| WHEREAS, Bishop Arthur M. Brazier is the founding president | 21 |
| of The Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corporation and the | 22 |
| Fund for Community Redevelopment and Revitalization; he is the | 23 |
| author of three books, "Black Self-Determination", "Saved by | 24 |
| Grace and Grace Alone", and "From Milk to Meat", in addition to |
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| many published articles; and
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| WHEREAS, Bishop Arthur M. Brazier has also served his | 3 |
| community through numerous religious and civic organizations; | 4 |
| he served as Diocesan of the 6th Episcopal District of the | 5 |
| Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, which oversees more than | 6 |
| 80 churches in the State of Illinois, for 30 years; he was | 7 |
| appointed to the Public Building Commission of Chicago on | 8 |
| August 28, 1986; he also served as vice president of the Center | 9 |
| for Community Change, a Washington, D.C.-based housing and | 10 |
| commercial project organization; and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, Bishop Arthur M. Brazier has been the recipient of | 12 |
| numerous awards in recognition of his service to the community, | 13 |
| including the Rockefeller Public Service Award from Princeton | 14 |
| University and the Catholic Council of Working Life for the | 15 |
| Love of Children Award from the Children's Home and Aid | 16 |
| Society; and
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| WHEREAS, After his last sermon as the pastor of the | 18 |
| Apostolic Church of God on June 1, 2008, Bishop Arthur M. | 19 |
| Brazier left the pulpit in the capable hands of his son, | 20 |
| Reverend Byron Brazier; the congregation of the Apostolic | 21 |
| Church of God, however, will remember Bishop Brazier's kind and | 22 |
| humble demeanor and his great spiritual strength fondly for | 23 |
| generations to come; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 2 |
| NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 3 |
| congratulate Bishop Arthur M. Brazier on the occasion of his | 4 |
| retirement, thank him for his many years of service to his | 5 |
| community, and wish him many happy and healthy retirement | 6 |
| years; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 8 |
| presented to Bishop Arthur M. Brazier as a symbol of our esteem | 9 |
| and respect.
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