[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 25, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: January 25, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                   TRIBUTE TO BISHOP BENJAMIN CROUCH

                                 ______


                         HON. HOWARD L. BERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 25, 1994

  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Bishop 
Benjamin Crouch, who for decades brought his ministry to poor people 
around California. Bishop Crouch's magnificent career in the church 
culminated in 1983 with his consecration as bishop in the Church of God 
in Christ. It was within the Macedonia Church of God in Christ that 
Bishop Crouch and his beloved wife, Catherine, who died last year, 
began their pastoral ministry in the California town of Val Verde.
  Fired by ambition and the desire to serve the people, Bishop and Mrs. 
Crouch expanded their work to include reaching out through television 
and radio; programs conducted at jails and hospitals; drug 
rehabilitation; and high school and campus ministries. By the end of 
his life Bishop Crouch had preached in nearly every major city in the 
United States, as well as many foreign countries.
  The role Bishop Crouch played in strengthening the Christian 
community in California cannot be underestimated. In 1951, for example, 
he and his wife, along with just a handful of parishioners, founded 
Christ Memorial Church. In 40 years the church has become an 
institution in the San Fernando Valley, with several hundred members. 
Its continued growth is a fitting legacy to the life and work of Bishop 
Crouch.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the memory of Bishop 
Benjamin Jerome Crouch, a man of faith who served his people with 
wisdom and love for decades. He will be missed.

                          ____________________