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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives wish to thank William S. Winston for his | ||||||
| 4 | dedicated service to our nation and for his many years of | ||||||
| 5 | spiritual and charitable service to the people of the State of | ||||||
| 6 | Illinois; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, William Winston was born in Tuskegee, Alabama; as | ||||||
| 8 | a child, he was inspired and influenced by the abundance of | ||||||
| 9 | educators, scientists, and physicians, as well as the historic | ||||||
| 10 | aviation accomplishments of the Tuskegee Airmen that served as | ||||||
| 11 | his role models; he is a graduate of the internationally known | ||||||
| 12 | Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama (now Tuskegee | ||||||
| 13 | University); and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, William Winston served as a fighter pilot in the | ||||||
| 15 | United States Air Force for 6 years; he earned numerous awards | ||||||
| 16 | and medals for his superior flying skills, including the | ||||||
| 17 | Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal for performance in | ||||||
| 18 | combat, and the Squadron Top Gun Award; and
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| 19 | WHEREAS, After completing his military service, William | ||||||
| 20 | Winston joined the IBM Corporation as a marketing | ||||||
| 21 | representative; his exceptional managerial and relational | ||||||
| 22 | skills rapidly earned him several promotions within the | ||||||
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| 1 | organization; he resigned from IBM in 1985 as a regional | ||||||
| 2 | marketing manager in IBM's Midwest Region to become a full-time | ||||||
| 3 | minister; and
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| 4 | WHEREAS, William Winston earned his Honorary Doctorate of | ||||||
| 5 | Humane Letters from Friends International Christian | ||||||
| 6 | University; and | ||||||
| 7 | WHEREAS, William Winston is the founder and Pastor of | ||||||
| 8 | Living Word Christian Center in Forest Park, which has over | ||||||
| 9 | 20,000 members; the church has a broad range of related | ||||||
| 10 | entities, including the Tuskegee Christian Center, a Bible | ||||||
| 11 | Training Center, a School of Ministry and Missions, the Living | ||||||
| 12 | Word Christian Academy, Golden Eagle Aviation, and the Joseph | ||||||
| 13 | Business School (JBS) for entrepreneurs and business leaders; | ||||||
| 14 | and | ||||||
| 15 | WHEREAS, William Winston is the Chairman of the Board of | ||||||
| 16 | Covenant Bancshares Inc., a bank-holding company for Covenant | ||||||
| 17 | Bank; he also serves in leadership positions with the Faith | ||||||
| 18 | Ministries Alliance, an alliance of more than 350 churches and | ||||||
| 19 | ministries under Pastor Winston in the U.S. and overseas, and | ||||||
| 20 | provides oversight for Forest Park Plaza in Forest Park and | ||||||
| 21 | Washington Plaza in Tuskegee, Alabama; and | ||||||
| 22 | WHEREAS, William Winston serves as the host of the | ||||||
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| 1 | Believer's Walk of Faith television and radio broadcast, which | ||||||
| 2 | reaches more than 760 million households nationwide and | ||||||
| 3 | overseas; he has also written several books, the most recent | ||||||
| 4 | being "Training For Reigning"; and | ||||||
| 5 | WHEREAS, William Winston is married to Veronica and is the | ||||||
| 6 | father of 3 children, Melody, Nicole, and David; therefore, be | ||||||
| 7 | it
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| 8 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 9 | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 10 | we thank William S. Winston for his dedicated service to our | ||||||
| 11 | nation and his many years of spiritual and charitable service | ||||||
| 12 | to the people of the State of Illinois and wish him continued | ||||||
| 13 | success and happiness in the future; and be it further
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| 14 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 15 | presented to William Winston as a symbol of our esteem and | ||||||
| 16 | respect.
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