Full Text of HR1577 96th General Assembly
HR1577 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | HR1577 | | LRB096 24702 GRL 44683 r |
|
| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are pleased to congratulate the congregation | 4 | | of the Willow United Methodist Church on the occasion of the | 5 | | church's 150th anniversary; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Religious meetings in the Willow community were | 7 | | first held in storefronts, schoolhouses, and private homes by | 8 | | circuit riders of the Mormon and Methodist churches shortly | 9 | | after the area was settled in 1833; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, The construction of the Willow Methodist | 11 | | Episcopal Church was begun in the fall of 1860 on land donated | 12 | | by the family of James Parkinson; the construction was only | 13 | | just beginning in April of 1861 when the American Civil War | 14 | | began, and many of Willow's young men left to serve their | 15 | | country and never returned to see a service held in the | 16 | | finished church; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, On December 19, 1861, a declaration was filed at | 18 | | the courthouse in Galena making the
"Willow First Methodist | 19 | | Episcopal Church, Morseville Circuit, Freeport District, Rock | 20 | | River Conference" official; the church's first service of | 21 | | record was preached in the newly completed Willow church by | 22 | | Reverend F. Winslow; and
|
| | | HR1577 | - 2 - | LRB096 24702 GRL 44683 r |
|
| 1 | | WHEREAS, The Willow United Methodist Church has served the | 2 | | people of Willow continuously since 1861; the axe markings on | 3 | | the hand-hewn timbers laid for the foundation of the church are | 4 | | still visible today in the open ceiling of the basement | 5 | | Community Room; physical improvements to the church building | 6 | | have been ongoing over the century and a half of its existence, | 7 | | including a bell installed in the bell tower in 1882, | 8 | | electricity run from a neighbor's Delco Battery Farm Plant in | 9 | | 1920, a basement that was begun in 1923 and completed in 1936, | 10 | | and a Narthex addition in 2007; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, Over 80 different Pastors have served the Willow | 12 | | United Methodist Church, beginning with the Reverend F. | 13 | | Winslow, and including the Reverend George Gable, who served 3 | 14 | | separate tenures from 1897 to 1931, all the way up to the | 15 | | church's current Pastor, the Reverend Mike Jones; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, Service to the people of Willow and their extended | 17 | | community has always been a prime focus of the Willow United | 18 | | Methodist Church; during the Great Depression, the Ladies Aid | 19 | | Society canned fruits and vegetables and donated them, along | 20 | | with hand-made pillows and quilts and dozens of eggs, to | 21 | | Freeport's Wesley Memorial Hospital; at the onset of World War | 22 | | II, the women volunteered their services at the USO club in | 23 | | Savanna, and shipped packages, in June and again in December, |
| | | HR1577 | - 3 - | LRB096 24702 GRL 44683 r |
|
| 1 | | to each of the 15 local boys who were serving in the Armed | 2 | | Forces; the Willow Valley Folk Festival was begun in 1968 as a | 3 | | fundraising tool to keep the doors of the church open during a | 4 | | time of financial crisis; the festival has since become a much | 5 | | anticipated annual event for the church, hosting thousands each | 6 | | year and allowing the Willow Methodist Church to continue its | 7 | | mission of service to its community and the world at large; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, The Willow United Methodist Church and its | 9 | | congregation serves as models of hard work, integrity, and | 10 | | dedication for the people of the State of Illinois; therefore, | 11 | | be it
| 12 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 13 | | NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 14 | | congratulate the congregation of the Willow United Methodist | 15 | | Church on the occasion of the church's 150th anniversary and | 16 | | wish them continued success and happiness in the future; and be | 17 | | it further
| 18 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 19 | | presented to Reverend Mike Jones, Pastor of the Willow United | 20 | | Methodist Church, as a symbol of our esteem and respect.
|
|