[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 65 (Wednesday, May 20, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E918]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING THE GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH OF NANUET

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 20, 1998

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, a great Baptist Church located within 
Rockland County of the 20th Congressional District of New York, will 
observe its bicentennial, as this County celebrates its 200th birthday.
  In 1798 a small gathering of Baptists in Rockland County formally 
established what is today the Grace Baptist Church of Nanuet. This 
Church was instrumental in starting six new Baptist congregations in 
Rockland County and subsequently established the first Sunday School 
there in 1828.
  A far-sighted and courageous action that this Church took on April 
12, 1817, fifty years before President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation 
Proclamation, was its declaration that members who owned slaves could 
no longer remain fellows of the Church.
  The growth of the Grace Baptist Church over the past 200 years has 
kept pace with the growth of Rockland County. The current congregation 
is multi-ethnic with Caucasian, Afro-American, Hispanic, Asian, Korean, 
Haitian and Philippine congregation members. All these reflect the 
current cultural and ethnic composition of Rockland County.
  This Church has been an important factor for the development of the 
Rockland community. Throughout the years it has been an invaluable 
community presence, making certain that it responds to the special 
needs of the population. It has been a social and religious institution 
that always acts in the best interests of the community.
  I am certain that the Grace Baptist Church of Nanuet will keep up its 
good works, not only in spreading out its religious traditions and 
observances, but also promoting its religious teachings and morality in 
Rockland's community.

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