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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Representative Monique D. Davis and the members of
3the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to recognize
4Reverend Dr. Johnnie Colemon, founder and minister of Christ
5Universal Temple, on her being selected as the First Annual
6Living Legends Award recipient by the Westside Center of Truth
7for Better Living; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Rev. Dr. Colemon has been a trailblazer of
9positive thought teachings and became a religious icon in this
10country and abroad over her more than 50 years of ministry; she
11grew her membership from 6 people sitting around a kitchen
12table in her home to approximately 15,000 members and built a
134,000-plus seating capacity mega church, a 20-classroom
14teaching facility, a state-of-the-art elementary school (The
15Johnnie Colemon Academy), and a 1,000-plus seat banquet
16facility (The Legacy); and
 
17    WHEREAS, Rev. Dr. Colemon enrolled in the Unity School of
18Practical Christianity, Lee's Summit, Missouri, where she
19received her teaching certificate and became an ordained
20minister; she has pioneered many "firsts" while at Unity,
21including being the first black person to live at Unity Village
22and the first to have been elected president of the Association
23of Unity Churches; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Rev. Dr. Colemon organized the Universal
2Foundation For Better Living, Incorporated in 1974 in
3connection with the International New Thought Alliance (INTA);
4as a member of the INTA, she served as the district president
5and was chairperson of the 80th INTA Congress held in Chicago;
6her extensive travels have taken her to London, England, to be
7guest speaker at the festival of Mind and Body; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Rev. Dr. Colemon was an early pioneer of media
9ministry in the 1970s and appeared weekly with her telecast,
10Better Living With Johnnie Colemon, which aired in 9 markets;
11she has been the subject of featured articles and broadcasts,
12and major media publications, and has been a popular guest on
13radio and television; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Rev. Dr. Colemon has been the recipient of
15numerous honors and awards; she has received the Ministry Of
16The Century Award from the INTA and an honorary Doctor of
17Divinity Degree from her alma mater, Wiley College in Texas;
18she obtained her degree of Doctor of Humane Letters and a
19Doctor of Divinity from Monrovia College and Industrial
20Institute of African Methodist Episcopal Church in Monrovia,
21Liberia; she has received proclamations from the State of
22Illinois, City of Chicago, State of Michigan, Ohio House of
23Representatives, Michigan Legislature, City of Oakland,

 

 

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1California, City of Miami, Florida, and many others; her
2portrait hangs at Morehouse College in the Martin Luther King
3Jr. International Center; she served as director of the Chicago
4Port Authority and as commissioner of the Chicago Transit
5Authority Oversight Committee; she has been recognized as
6Chicago's Living Legends by the Institute for African American
7Youth Development and honored by the DuSable Museum as an
8African American History Maker; and
 
9    WHEREAS, The Johnnie Colemon Academy opened on September 7,
101999, and is the most recent addition to the 32-acre campus; in
11February 2001, the elementary school became one of the Chicago
12public schools and serves as a model learning center; in 2006,
13Rev. Dr. Colemon retired as Senior Minister of Christ Universal
14Temple, but continues to be a driving force for the ministry
15she founded and led for over 50 years; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Rev. Dr. Colemon will be honored at the First
17Annual Living Legends Awards Banquet on February 23, 2013, at
18The Legacy in Chicago, Illinois; therefore, be it
 
19    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
20NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
21we recognize Reverend Dr. Johnnie Colemon on her being selected
22as the First Annual Living Legends Award recipient by the
23Westside Center of Truth for Better Living; and be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
2presented to Rev. Dr. Johnnie Colemon as an expression of our
3esteem and respect.