Bill Text: IL HR0688 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Congratulates the Rev. Dr. Craig Melvin Smith of the Freedom Baptist Church of the Greater Chicago Area in Hillside on celebrating 50 years of preaching.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2022-02-25 - Resolution Adopted [HR0688 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2021-HR0688-Introduced.html
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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
3 | Representatives wish to congratulate the Rev. Dr. Craig Melvin | ||||||
4 | Smith on celebrating 50 years of preaching, from 1972 to 2022; | ||||||
5 | and
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6 | WHEREAS, Rev. Smith is the Senior Pastor of the Freedom | ||||||
7 | Baptist Church of the Greater Chicago Area in Hillside; and
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8 | WHEREAS, Rev. Smith was born and raised in Peoria, the | ||||||
9 | third of seven children; he was called to preach the Gospel in | ||||||
10 | 1972 in his junior year at the University of Illinois in | ||||||
11 | Urbana-Champaign; and
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12 | WHEREAS, Rev. Smith preached his first sermon at his home | ||||||
13 | church, the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church of Peoria, | ||||||
14 | in February of 1972; and
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15 | WHEREAS, Rev. Smith was ordained at his home church in | ||||||
16 | April of 1974; and
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17 | WHEREAS, Rev. Smith's structured academic and | ||||||
18 | pastoral-theological preparation has earned him a Bachelor of | ||||||
19 | Arts from the University of Illinois in 1973, a Master of | ||||||
20 | Divinity from the Northern Baptist Seminary in 2003, and a |
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1 | Doctor of Ministry from the United Theological Seminary in | ||||||
2 | 2009; and
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3 | WHEREAS, Rev. Smith started the Freedom Baptist Church on | ||||||
4 | April 9, 2000, and over 2,500 people have called Freedom | ||||||
5 | Hillside their church home since the first worship service was | ||||||
6 | held in the Hillside Theater; and
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7 | WHEREAS, Rev. Smith's previous professional and pastoral | ||||||
8 | assignments have included serving as a personal banker for a | ||||||
9 | commercial national bank, as a crime analyst for the Peoria | ||||||
10 | Police Department, as a pastor for Providence Baptist Church, | ||||||
11 | and as a pastor of the Metropolitan Baptist Church of the | ||||||
12 | Westside in Chicago; and
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13 | WHEREAS, Rev. Smith is in his 20th year as a senior pastor | ||||||
14 | and teacher at Freedom Baptist Church; he preaches Sunday | ||||||
15 | worship services and regularly teaches two Bible classes | ||||||
16 | weekly, Men of the Bible (MOB) and Word on Wednesday; and
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17 | WHEREAS, Rev. Smith has dedicated 50 years to the ministry | ||||||
18 | of worship and to work for his community; therefore, be it
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19 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
20 | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
21 | we congratulate the Rev. Dr. Craig Melvin Smith on celebrating |
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1 | 50 years of preaching, and we wish him many more wonderful | ||||||
2 | years; and be it further
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3 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
4 | presented to Rev. Smith as a symbol of our respect and esteem.
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