[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 66 (Tuesday, May 15, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E798]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      REVEREND FELIX B. DUCKWORTH

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARION BERRY

                              of arkansas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 15, 2001

  Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great 
American, and I am proud to recognize Reverend Felix B. Duckworth in 
the Congress for his invaluable contributions and service to our 
nation.
  Reverend Duckworth was born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1964, and 
raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He has been married to his lovely wife for 
14 years, and he has two beautiful daughters who are 13 and 14 years of 
age.
  His is a life of devotion to the church, and he has spent 20 years in 
the ministry winning souls for Christ. For ten of those twenty years 
Reverend Duckworth has been pastor of a church. He served seven of the 
ten years as Pastor of the Star of Zion Baptist Church in Corpus 
Christi, Texas. While at the Star of Zion, he was as a member of the 
City Revitalization/Economic Development Committee. It was here that he 
committed himself to improving socially and economically distressed 
areas. Through his work on that board, Reverend Duckworth helped to 
build and develop the infrastructure for the city of Robstown, Texas, a 
suburb of Corpus Christi.
  After leaving the Star of Zion, he moved to Forrest City, Arkansas, 
where he assumed the stewardship of Salem M.B. Church. At Salem, he 
continued his life's work by providing the vision to construct the 
Salem M.B. Church Family Life Center. Reverend Duckworth used his 
experience in Corpus Christi to give Forrest City a resource that will 
provide the community with much-needed intervention and prevention 
programs. The Salem M.B. Church Family Life Center will serve as a 
community center that will offer counseling, tutoring and wellness 
services. The facility will have a computer learning center that is the 
result of a collaborative effort of state and federal agencies. The 
Center's primary focus is promoting the importance of getting a good 
education and addressing the social problems that are ever-present in 
distressed communities. Reverend Duckworth has written several papers 
conveying his thoughts on leadership and stewardship. Recently he 
completed a Leadership Manual addressing church leadership philosophies 
that will probably be published in late 2001.
  In addition to his main responsibilities with the church, Reverend 
Duckworth somehow has found time to be Moderator of the North Arkansas 
Baptist District Association, which oversees 12 churches; President of 
the St. Francis County (Arkansas) Ministerial Alliance; a member of the 
Community Relations Board at Forrest City Federal Prison; Chaplain of 
the Baptist Memorial Health Care Center in St. Francis County; a member 
of the St. Francis County TEA Coalition Board; and a member of the St. 
Francis County NAACP.
  I am proud to recognize Reverend Duckworth for everything he has done 
to help the residents of the communities that have been lucky enough to 
count him as a member, and I want to express my appreciation on behalf 
of those people, and on behalf of the citizens of this nation.

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