HR0582 LRB093 14103 HSS 40183 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of this Body wish to congratulate
3 Elder Charles Mason Ford, Pastor of the St. Paul Church of God
4 in Christ of Chicago, on being selected to be Auxiliary Bishop
5 of the Church of God in Christ; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Charles Mason Ford was born on January 3, 1936 in
7 Chicago to Bishop L.H. Ford and Margaret Little Ford; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Bishop Ford served his church for several decades
9 as its radio broadcast announcer, known as the "voice of St.
10 Paul"; he served First Jurisdiction-Illinois as the Director of
11 Urban Ministries and as Director of the "They Shall Be Fed
12 Program" which distributed emergency food through 90
13 interdenominational churches; and
 
14     WHEREAS, Bishop Ford was ordained by his father, Bishop
15 L.H. Ford, in 1982; in 1989, he was appointed Church of God in
16 Christ, National Director of Urban Ministries; he was later
17 appointed to represent the Church of God in Christ on the Board
18 of Directors of the Congress of National Black Churches; he was
19 selected Chairman of the Audit and Finance Committee; and
 
20     WHEREAS, Bishop Ford served at St. Paul as Assistant Pastor
21 and then as Pastor in 1995; in 1997, he was appointed
22 Superintendent of the Bishop Louis Henry Ford Memorial
23 District; he was selected to serve on the Jurisdiction's Board
24 of Directors and on the Board of Directors of the
25 Jurisdiction's not-for-profit Moriah Corporation, which is
26 responsible for its outreach and social service ministries; in
27 1999, he was appointed to the office of Administrative
28 Assistant to Bishop Ocie Booker, Prelate of First
29 Jurisdiction-Illinois; and
 
30     WHEREAS, In November of 2000, he was chosen by the General

 

 

HR0582 - 2 - LRB093 14103 HSS 40183 r

1 Assembly of the Church of God in Christ to be a member of the
2 National Board of Trustees; his colleagues selected him to be
3 the Chairman of the Board; he was recommended to become
4 Auxiliary Bishop in 2001 and approved in May of 2003; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Bishop Ford is a retired public servant; he was
6 the Deputy Commissioner of the City of Chicago's Department of
7 Human Services, where he helped administer social services,
8 community organizing, pre-school, and emergency service
9 programs; and
 
10     WHEREAS, Bishop Ford's motto for the church is "A full time
11 ministry, ministering full time to the entire family"; he has
12 successfully negotiated and received government funding to
13 build a 60-unit independent living senior citizens housing
14 complex and a 24-unit building to house the disabled and their
15 families; he has renovated a former CHA building to house St.
16 Paul Community Development Ministries programs in the new St.
17 Paul Family and Community Center; and
 
18     WHEREAS, Bishop Charles Ford has been married for 47 years
19 to Marlene Rochelle (Ringer) Ford; they are the parents of 5
20 children, Elder Kevin, Louis, Jacqueline, Christi, and Corey,
21 and grandparents of 7, Jeremy, Sharon, Charles, Brian, Mason,
22 Kevin, and Brandon; therefore, be it
 
23     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
24 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
25 congratulate Bishop Charles Ford on being selected to be
26 Auxiliary Bishop of the Church of God in Christ; and be it
27 further
 
28     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
29 presented to Bishop Charles Ford as an expression of our
30 esteem.