Bill Text: VA HJR298 | 2016 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commending Schaeffer Memorial Baptist Church.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2016-02-25 - Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ298ER) [HJR298 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2016-HJR298-Enrolled.html
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WHEREAS, Schaeffer Memorial Baptist Church in Christiansburg celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2016 of providing joyful worship, spiritual comfort, and generous outreach to the community; and WHEREAS, Schaeffer Memorial Baptist Church, which was founded in 1866, traces its origins to the foresight and determination of one man, Captain Charles S. Schaeffer, an officer in the Union Army during the Civil War who wanted to establish a place of worship and education for newly freed African Americans; and WHEREAS, Charles Schaeffer, who was an agent of the Freedmen's Bureau, traveled to Christiansburg shortly after the Civil War ended, and by 1885, he had built the Christiansburg Industrial Institute, a school for African Americans that offered technical, academic, and religious skills; and WHEREAS, the original community of worshippers at the Christiansburg Industrial Institute was called the Christiansburg African Baptist Church, and in 1885, construction began on a brick church building adjacent to the Institute; and WHEREAS, in its early days, Schaeffer Memorial Church and the Christiansburg Industrial Institute received financial support from the Quaker church, and for many years, the complex—which sits atop one of the highest hills in Christiansburg—was the only school in the greater Montgomery County area open to African Americans; and WHEREAS, after the founding of the educational and religious center, Charles Schaeffer became an ordained Baptist minister, and in his honor the church was renamed Schaeffer Memorial Baptist Church; and WHEREAS, the Christiansburg Industrial Institute offered valuable academic and vocational training to African American students for many years; it closed in the mid-20th century, and is now a community center; and WHEREAS, Schaeffer Memorial Baptist Church remains a vibrant and welcoming place of worship for the people of Christiansburg and the Montgomery County area, continuing a tradition envisioned by the generosity, hard work, and foresight of its founder, Charles Schaeffer; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Schaeffer Memorial Baptist Church on the occasion of its 150th anniversary in 2016; and, be it RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the Reverend Lee E. Suggs, Sr., pastor of Schaeffer Memorial Baptist Church, as an expression of the General Assembly's respect and admiration for the church's long history of providing educational and religious opportunities to the African American community in greater Montgomery County. |
