093_HR0509

                                     LRB093 13483 HSS 18808 r

 1                          HOUSE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, The members of the House of  Representatives  of
 3    the  State  of  Illinois are pleased to congratulate Caldwell
 4    Chapel  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church  on   the
 5    occasion of its 100th anniversary; and

 6        WHEREAS,  The  Caldwell Chapel congregation was organized
 7    in 1902 with the Reverend J.A. Reeves as minister; it was the
 8    first independent church for African-American worshippers  in
 9    Kankakee;  the  first building structure was located at South
10    Dearborn Avenue and Charles Streets on the city's south side;
11    because of the shifting of the African-American population to
12    a new residential area, Caldwell relocated  in  1922  to  the
13    present  location  at  North Evergreen Avenue and East Willow
14    Street on Kankakee's north side; on that moving day,  members
15    carried  the  stove  from  the old church to the new location
16    with the fire still burning within it; and

17        WHEREAS, The first church building was completed in  1938
18    during  the ministry of Dr. Fredrick Porter, with a parsonage
19    being  added  to  the  property  in  1947  by  the   Reverend
20    Christopher C. Noble; and

21        WHEREAS,  The  ministers  and  members of Caldwell Chapel
22    have always attempted to meet the needs of the  community  by
23    serving  as  the  place  of meeting for various fraternal and
24    civic groups; a nursery for pre-school children was housed on
25    the lower floor of  the  building  from  1948  to  1950;  the
26    Parent-Teacher  Organization  of  the old Franklin School and
27    the Kankakee County Branch of the NAACP  were  organized  and
28    met in the Caldwell Chapel building; and

29        WHEREAS,  The  original  church building was torn down in
30    1954, with services held at the Pioneer Park fieldhouse until
31    the  new  facility  was  completed  in   1956,   during   the
32    administration of the Reverend John T. Frazier; the following
 
                            -2-      LRB093 13483 HSS 18808 r
 1    years saw numerous renovations to the church property; and

 2        WHEREAS,  In  2001,  construction  began  on the $750,000
 3    expansion  and  renovation  project,  yielding  the   current
 4    facilities;  the  pastor  for the last 26 years, the Reverend
 5    Nathan N. Richmond, Sr., works with a pastoral staff of 5 and
 6    oversees church  ministries  including  Christian  Education,
 7    Prayer,  Missionary  Society,  Couples,  Praise Dance, Music,
 8    Free Meal, and Men's Fellowship; therefore, be it

 9        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES   OF   THE
10    NINETY-THIRD  GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
11    we congratulate Caldwell Chapel African  Methodist  Episcopal
12    Zion  Church on the occasion of its 100th anniversary; and be
13    it further

14        RESOLVED, That a suitable  copy  of  this  resolution  be
15    presented  to  Caldwell Chapel as an expression of our esteem
16    and with best wishes for the future.