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
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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.