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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
3 | Representatives are pleased to congratulate the members of | ||||||
4 | Shiloh Baptist Church on the occasion of the 175th anniversary | ||||||
5 | of the church's founding; and
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6 | WHEREAS, At a time when most of the surrounding country was | ||||||
7 | forest and the roads were mere cart tracks, a small band of | ||||||
8 | people met just south of Bridgeport in order to form the first | ||||||
9 | Baptist church in Lawrence County on December 9, 1839; these | ||||||
10 | individuals formed the church in order to meet the needs they | ||||||
11 | had for fellowship and to meet God's call to spread the Gospel | ||||||
12 | of Jesus Christ; and
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13 | WHEREAS, The council, which was requested by the brethren | ||||||
14 | living in Lawrence County, convened at Springhill Meeting House | ||||||
15 | to appoint James Highsmith as moderator pro-tempore and William | ||||||
16 | T. Young as clerk pro-tempore to take into consideration the | ||||||
17 | expediency of granting their request to be constituted into a | ||||||
18 | regular Baptist church; and
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19 | WHEREAS, The 11 founding members included J.S. Black and | ||||||
20 | his wife, Mary Ann Black; William Black and his wife, Mary | ||||||
21 | Black; Samuel F. Black and his wife, Harriet Black; Richard | ||||||
22 | Shipley and his wife, Sarah Shipley; Daniel Black and his wife, |
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1 | Elizabeth Black; and Mrs. Mary Black, who were all baptized by | ||||||
2 | Elder G.W. Riley on December 8, 1839; and | ||||||
3 | WHEREAS, The council called for the Articles of Faith, | ||||||
4 | which was presented by the hand of J.S. Black, who was | ||||||
5 | appointed by the brethren and sisters to act on behalf of the | ||||||
6 | church; being satisfied with their Articles, the council | ||||||
7 | unanimously agreed to constitute them into a regular Baptist | ||||||
8 | church, which was to be known as the First Regular Baptist | ||||||
9 | Church of Jesus Christ in Township 3 North, Range 12 West; and
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10 | WHEREAS, The church organized their first meeting by | ||||||
11 | choosing Elder G.W. Riley as moderator and J.S. Black as clerk | ||||||
12 | pro-tempore; and
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13 | WHEREAS, On August 9, 1840, a meeting was held to rename | ||||||
14 | the church as Shiloh Baptist Church, meaning Messiah, denoting | ||||||
15 | Him to be the only procurer to their happiness; and | ||||||
16 | WHEREAS, In January of 1863, the congregation approved a | ||||||
17 | new meeting house, which would stand for 77 years until it was | ||||||
18 | tragically destroyed by a fire in 1940; and
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19 | WHEREAS, In September of 1940, Shiloh Baptist Church began | ||||||
20 | construction on a new building to serve as the church | ||||||
21 | auditorium, along with a basement to hold Sunday school |
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1 | classrooms, which today serves as the church's youth | ||||||
2 | department; and
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3 | WHEREAS, As the congregation continued to grow in size, the | ||||||
4 | construction of a new auditorium began in 1979; a dedication | ||||||
5 | was held on August 30, 1981 with Pastor George Moore as the | ||||||
6 | guest speaker; and | ||||||
7 | WHEREAS, On October 8, 2008, Shiloh Baptist Church approved | ||||||
8 | the church's new mission statement of "Glorifying God, Loving | ||||||
9 | People; Knowing Christ, Making Christ Known"; and
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10 | WHEREAS, The Shiloh Baptist Church's 175th anniversary | ||||||
11 | makes it one of the 100 oldest churches of any denomination in | ||||||
12 | the State of Illinois and one of the 6 oldest Baptist churches | ||||||
13 | in the State of Illinois; and | ||||||
14 | WHEREAS, On December 14, 2014, Shiloh Baptist Church will | ||||||
15 | celebrate the 175th anniversary of its founding with special | ||||||
16 | guests, music, displays, photos, and a luncheon at noon, | ||||||
17 | followed by a reception; therefore, be it
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18 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
19 | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
20 | we congratulate the members of Shiloh Baptist Church on the | ||||||
21 | 175th anniversary of the church's founding and honor the |
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1 | church's commitment to be a place and people of help and | ||||||
2 | ministry to others; and be it further
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3 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
4 | presented to Shiloh Baptist Church as an expression of our | ||||||
5 | esteem and respect.
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