[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 129 (Thursday, September 24, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H8605-H8606]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              TRIBUTE TO THE LATE REVEREND DR. AMOS WALLER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to a great 
organizer, a visionary leader, a coalition-builder, a singer, and a 
preacher of the gospel, the Reverend Dr. Amos Waller, who recently made 
his transition and passed through this life.
  Every once in a while a leader comes along who is gifted with the 
ability to magnetize people and draw them into his presence, and keep 
them returning for more of whatever it was that they were receiving. 
Such has been the life and is the legacy of the Reverend Dr. Amos 
Waller, founder and pastor of the Mercy Seat Missionary Baptist Church.
  Reverend Waller was a graduate of the Selma, Alabama, University of 
Baptist Faith, and was ordained as a minister in 1956. For the next 42 
years he has been a preacher, pastor, revival evangelist, and lecturer, 
and was a chaplin for the A.R. Leak Funeral Home.
  In addition to his work as pastor of Mercy Seat, Dr. Waller organized 
the WestSide Ministers Alliance, served with the Neighborhood 
Assistance Program in the city of Chicago's Department of Human 
Services, was politically active in his neighborhood, and provided food 
and shelter for the poor and needy members of his community.
  As a matter of fact, not only did he provide food for the needy, but 
he was one who believed in the doctrine that man does not live by bread 
alone, and so a typical Sunday after services, hundreds of people would 
gather in his dining room for chicken and dressing and potatoes and 
turnip greens, and all of the other delights that he was noted for.
  The Reverend Waller was a man of great diversity who became a board 
member of the National Baptist Convention U.S.A., and was a great 
friend of and worked closely with Reverend Sun Myung Moon. In August of 
1995 he participated in an international marriage ceremony where 42 
couples from his church united with over 3 million others throughout 
the world as they took and renewed marriage vows.
  Reverend Waller has been a developer of ministers and of churches, 
and out of Mercy Seat came the New Home Baptist Church, where the 
Reverend Mac McCullough is the pastor; the Greater St. John Baptist 
Church, where the Reverend LeRoy Elliot is pastor; the Grace Temple 
Baptist Church, where Reverend Dennis Will is pastor; the Full Gospel 
Church, where Evangelist Betty Yancy is pastor; True Light Missionary 
Baptist Church, where the Reverend Freddie Brooks is pastor; Greater 
Damascus Missionary Baptist Church, where the Reverend Curley Brooks is 
pastor; New Christian Center, where the Reverend Greg Macon is pastor, 
and the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church, where Reverend Sparks is 
pastor.
  Reverend Waller was affectionately known as Daddy by many of the 
younger ministers in his community and throughout the area, because he 
embraced them all.
  Reverend Waller received awards from the mayor of Chicago, the 
Governor of Illinois. He and Mrs. Waller, who preceded him in death, 
were presented the 1996 Parents of the Year award for Illinois, in 
conjunction with a proclamation by President Clinton declaring July 26, 
1996, as Parents Day.

[[Page H8606]]

  Reverend Waller understood the role of business and economic 
development activities, and helped to start local businesses; 
specifically, the A-1 Garfield Exterminating and Janitorial Service, 
operated by Mr. Garfield Major. He encouraged his parishioners to vote 
and to shop in the neighborhoods where they lived, a sound and wise 
economic development strategy.
  In the book of Matthew, the fifth Chapter, 14th through 16th verses, 
we read, ``Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill 
cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, 
but on a candlestick, and it giveth light onto all that is in the 
house. Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good 
works and glorify your father which is in heaven.''
  The Lawndale Community of Chicago and the Nation have seen and 
benefited from the good works of Reverend Dr. Amos Waller, and now may 
his soul rest in peace.

                          ____________________