HR1339 LRB096 22616 KXB 41937 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     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
 
6     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
 
10     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
 
18     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

 

 

HR1339 - 2 - LRB096 22616 KXB 41937 r

1 evangelists, as some eighty-one ministers have studied under
2 him; and
 
3     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
 
13     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
 
17     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
 
22     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be

 

 

HR1339 - 3 - LRB096 22616 KXB 41937 r

1 presented to Reverend Doctor Clay Evans as a symbol of our
2 respect and esteem.