HR0171 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0171 LRB095 11482 KXB 32538 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, State Representative Monique D. Davis and the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to congratulate Pastor Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr., on 35 years of ministry at Trinity United Church of Christ; and

WHEREAS, Pastor Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr., was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; he completed his elementary education in that city and then went to the college where his mother and father met, Virginia Union University, in Richmond, Virginia; he was a third generation family member to be a student at that college; his grandparents also finished Virginia Union University in the early 1900s; and

WHEREAS, After six years in the military, Pastor Wright transferred to Howard University where he completed his undergraduate studies and received his first Master's Degree; his second Master's Degree was from the University of Chicago Divinity School; his Doctorate was received from the United Theological Seminary under Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor; in addition to Pastor Wright's four earned degrees, he has been the recipient of three honorary doctor of Divinity Degrees, a Doctor of Letters degree (from Colgate University), and a Doctor of Laws Degree from Bethune-Cookman College; and

WHEREAS, Pastor Wright was called to serve the congregation of Trinity United Church of Christ in March of 1972; Trinity's membership was 87 adults in that year; the membership now exceeds 8,000; over the last three decades Trinity Church has constructed two new worship centers, with the present worship center seating 2,700 and covering 150,000 square feet; Trinity Church has also constructed two Senior Citizen Housing complexes which provide comfortable living quarters for 130 families; Trinity Church has operated a federally funded child care program for low-income and unemployed families for a quarter of a century; and Trinity Church has run a federally funded credit union for 25 years, with assets exceeding $2,000,000; and

WHEREAS, Pastor Wright's ministry has extended far beyond the 400 W. 95th Street address in Chicago, Illinois; Trinity Church tithes its annual budget each year by giving one tenth of its revenues to other churches, other agencies, and denominational missions (as well as world missions); and

WHEREAS, In 2005, Trinity gave $100,000 to the UCC denominational effort to help the evacuees displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita; in addition, Trinity Church gave another $199,000 to Dillard University to help rebuild the school, which is historically related to the United Church of Christ and was virtually destroyed by Hurricane Katrina; and

WHEREAS, In addition to supporting mission work in Liberia, Haiti, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana, Brazil, and South Africa, Trinity makes a tremendous investment in higher education (in general) and theological education (in particular) each year; Trinity church has given over $300,000 to the United Negro College Fund and $325,000 in scholarships to graduating high school members who are college bound; and

WHEREAS, Trinity Church has ordained 38 seminary graduates; Trinity currently has 65 additional members in accredited seminaries throughout the country; Trinity Church makes an annual investment in excess of $300,000 to its members who are students in accredited seminaries; in addition to supporting individual members who are in seminary, Trinity has also "birthed" four new congregations in the United Church of Christ, two in Atlanta, one in Gary, Indiana, and one in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and

WHEREAS, Four of the new pastors serving the new congregations are sons and daughters of Pastor Wright; they went to seminary with Trinity Church paying for over $21,000 for each student's graduate school work, and they were all ordained by Pastor Wright after completing seminary; in addition to theological education, Trinity Church has been supporting missions in Ghana, West Africa, in Bahia on Brazil, in Guguletu, and in Durban, South Africa for over a decade; and Trinity Church opened a Computer School in Saltpond, Ghana in the summer of 2000; and

WHEREAS, In August of 2003, Pastor Wright was enstooled by the Ga-Dangme People of Ghana as Chief Afotey Oblum, II; seventy-six members of the church accompanied Pastor Wright to Ghana for the enstoolment; thirty African-Americans from Pastor Wright's hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, also were in Ghana to witness his enstoolment; and

WHEREAS, Pastor Wright was awarded the Alumnus of the Year Award by the Howard University Board of Trustees in March of 2004; the Howard University Board of Trustees recognized him as their leading alumnus in the field of Religion and Theological Education; Pastor Wright's personal, pastoral, and ministry philosophy have been shaped by his mother and father, the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Sr., and Dr. Mary Henderson Wright; and

WHEREAS, He gives thanks to God for having had parents who showed him by their living what the gospel of Jesus Christ really means; he now shares those lessons with his wife, Ramah Reed Wright, his four daughters, his son, and his three grandchildren; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr., as he celebrates his 35th year in the ministry at Trinity United Church of Christ, serving the needs of his congregation and people around the globe; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr., as a symbol of our esteem.