HR1339 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1339 LRB096 22616 KXB 41937 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to congratulate the Reverend Doctor Clay Evans of Chicago on the occasion of his 85th birthday; and

WHEREAS, Clay Evans was born on June 23, 1925, in Brownsville, Tennessee; he later moved to Chicago, where he started the Fellowship Baptist Church and helped launch Operation PUSH; and

WHEREAS, After graduating from George Washington Carver High School in Brownsville, he moved to Chicago to attend seminary school; he studied at the Chicago Baptist Institute, the Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the University of Chicago Divinity School; he was ordained a Baptist minister in 1950, and in 1958 founded the Fellowship Baptist Church, affectionately called "The Ship" by its parishioners, on the South Side of Chicago; and

WHEREAS, In the pulpit, Reverend Evans developed a reputation as an innovative and passionate preacher; he also gained an extensive evangelical following throughout the Midwest and the South, where his weekly sermons are aired on radio and television; he has also influenced scores of new evangelists, as some eighty-one ministers have studied under him; and

WHEREAS, Reverend Evans was appointed to the International Committee of Reference in 1988, working to create a global ministry; in 1965, he teamed up with the Reverend Jesse Jackson to start Operation PUSH, one of the country's leading civil rights organizations; between 1971 and 1976, he served as chairman of Operation PUSH and set direction for the group; he published an autobiography, From Plough Handle to Pulpit, in 1982, chronicling his journey from the fields of his childhood home in Tennessee to the forefront of the civil rights movement; and

WHEREAS, Reverend Doctor Clay Evans is married to Lutha Mae Hollingshed and they have five children; a celebration will be held on July 12, 2010 to commemorate his life and legacy; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Reverend Doctor Clay Evans on his 85th birthday and wish him continued good health and success for years to come; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Reverend Doctor Clay Evans as a symbol of our respect and esteem.