[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 100 (Thursday, July 23, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1399-E1400]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN HONOR OF DR. MARGARET STORTZ AND REV. VICTOR POSTOLAKI, MINISTERS OF 
                 THE FIRST CHURCH OF RELIGIOUS SCIENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 23, 1998

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, it is with honor that I share with you the 
accomplishments and religious commitment of Dr. Margaret Stortz and 
Rev. Victor Postolaki, who will be honored by the First Church 
Religious Science on Sunday, July 26 in Oakland, California.
  Dr. Stortz will be stepping down as senior minister after 14 years 
and Rev. Postolaki, as assistant minister after 12 years of service. As 
ministers each has provided guidance and support to its congregants and 
the residents of Oakland and the East Bay.
  As leaders of First Church, they encouraged community outreach on an 
economic level and have generated monies to assist the survivors of the 
1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, the Oakland Firestorm. Their fund-raising 
efforts such as the ``Love Project'' in conjunction with Allen Temple 
Baptist Church assisted in the rebuilding of the Black churches burned 
in the south, the North Dakota Flood, and the Mexico Earthquake. They 
have, through the church volunteer programs, arrange for the creation 
and distribution of grocery baskets and food vouchers for numerous 
economically disadvantaged families and organizations servicing this 
constituency.
  They worked with Bay Area Ministries to make Oakland a better 
community for all its residents. Both were concerned about youth and 
were actively involved in programs that educated our children specially 
the teen empowering program serving the East Bay.
  Dr. Stortz served as Assistant Minister in 1981 and as the senior 
minister since 1984. In 1983, she was elected President of the Northern 
California United Church of Religious Science. Over the years Dr. 
Stortz held numerous offices within the United Church of Religious 
Science organization as member of the International Board of Trustees 
and the President of the United Church of Religious Science.
  Besides her ministerial duties she is an author and has an extensive 
list of works. Her written works include Start Living Every Day of Your 
Life, How to Enjoy Life and Flight into Life. She has produced Seven 
Spiritual Laws of Success based on Deepak Chopra's Book of the You 
Prosper, We Prosper--a 10-day

[[Page E1400]]

prosperity meditation series, and Here's to Your Health--a 10-day 
health meditation series. She has written articles for the Oakland 
Tribune regarding the local clergy. Dr. Stortz served as a member of 
the Oakland Police and Clergy Together, and trained numerous assistant 
ministers.
  Rev. Postolaki, originally from Romania, prior to coming to First 
Church, served the Santa Rosa Church, both as a Practitioner and as an 
Assistant Minister. In 1986 he became the assistant minister at First 
Church of Religious Science, Oakland. He conducted weekly circles of 
Prayer and headed the Pastoral Care.
  Rev. Postolaki has brought his spiritual strength, his creativity, 
and his artistic talents to First Church. He created unique banners 
reflecting the world's religious beliefs and ``The Season for Non-
Violence'' banner honoring the anniversaries of the deaths of Mahatma 
Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
  Dr. Stortz and Rev. Postolaki have been pillars whose commitment has 
established First Church as a fifty-year-old Oakland spiritual 
institution.

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