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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, Reverend William H. Copeland, Jr., will be honored
3 at a celebration of his 34 years of service to Morning Star
4 Missionary Baptist Church in Kankakee during the weekend of
5 Friday, March 10-12, 2006; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Reverend Copeland was born in Winn Parish,
7 Louisiana, to Georgia Ann and William H. Copeland, Sr.; he
8 completed high school in Louisiana and then earned a Bachelor
9 of Science degree from Missouri Western University in St.
10 Joseph, Missouri; he also attended National College in Kansas
11 City, Missouri, and the University of Missouri at Kansas City;
12 he received theological training from Western Baptist Bible
13 College, Kansas City National College, and William Jewel
14 College; he holds an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity degree from
15 Morris College and McKinley Theological Seminary; and
 
16     WHEREAS, He was called to pastor Morning Star Missionary
17 Baptist Church in 1971, and since then he has consistently
18 shown his concern for the souls and spiritual well-being of
19 mankind and for the social conditions that people face daily;
20 he has been a leader in the fight against racism and injustice
21 and has battled for the right of every child to have equal
22 access to a quality education; he has organized marches against
23 gangs and violence and helped to create the Martin Luther King
24 Jr. Foundation; and
 
25     WHEREAS, Under his leadership, the church erected a
26 half-million dollar edifice in 1976 with the mortgage being
27 fully satisfied in 1986; the church purchased and renovated
28 what now serves as the Morning Star Community Center;
29 additionally, the ministries of Morning Star have grown
30 tremendously, and the church is currently recognized as a
31 positive, influential social and political icon in the
32 Kankakeeland community; and
 

 

 

HR0985 - 2 - LRB094 19780 HSS 56942 r

1     WHEREAS, He is active in many civic and community
2 organizations and has served as president of the NAACP and the
3 Northeastside Ministerial Alliance; he has also served as
4 coordinator of the Kankakee County chapter of the Rainbow PUSH
5 Coalition and was one of six pastors to receive the Founder's
6 Award from PUSH, one of the organizations highest awards; and
 
7     WHEREAS, Reverend Copeland has been the recipient of
8 numerous awards, including the Ebony Esteem Award for "Man of
9 the Year" and "Most Outstanding Man in Religion" for Kankakee
10 County; he was named "Minister of the Year" by the Midwestern
11 Illinois Laymen's Fellowship and has received many other
12 recognitions, and on February 26, 2006, he received "The
13 African American Heritage Honoree Award" from the Victory
14 Christian International Ministries; and
 
15     WHEREAS, Reverend Copeland is married to the former Leola
16 Coley; they are the parents of Reverend Kenneth Edward Copeland
17 (Starla) and Monica Rochelle (Reverend John W. Fountain) and
18 the grandparents of William Jibri, Imani Monique, Abeni
19 Jamilah, Titus Omari, and Malik Jamal; therefore, be it
 
20     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
21 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
22 we congratulate Reverend William H. Copeland, Jr., on the
23 occasion of the celebration of 34 years of service to Morning
24 Star Missionary Baptist Church in Kankakee; and be it further
 
25     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
26 presented to Reverend Copeland as an expression of our esteem.