[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 124 (Friday, September 14, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1544]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING REV. DR. MYRTLE OWENS SMITH

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 14, 2012

  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, America was settled by people with a strong 
belief in God. To this day that conviction has carried through with 
churches in all neighborhoods of our country forming a bond that holds 
them and us together.
  Here in the Bronx we have one such church, the Emmanuel Baptist 
Church, under the inspired pastoring of the Rev. Dr. Myrtle Owens Smith 
who is celebrating her tenth anniversary as Pastor of the church.
  She is the first female black pastor of the Emmanuel Baptist Church 
and in her decade of service to her flock she has honored the past by 
renovating the church to keep its historical heritage and while 
enhancing the future by planning the installation of solar panels.
  Rev. Dr. Smith is a community oriented minister who regularly attends 
Community Board meetings, donated a new kitchen for the church, 
maintains excellent relationships with local elected officials, 
accommodates community mission outreach programs such as Soup and Sock 
Ministry and provides food and clothing and HIV testing. She also 
encourages a thriving Youth Ministry and, on a broader front, was the 
first female pastor asked by the Foreign Mission Board to accompany 
them to Ghana.
  This is the tip of the iceberg regarding Rev. Dr. Myrtle Owens Smith 
and her spiritual and corporal contributions to her community. I join 
with her congregants in congratulating her on ten wonderful and 
fruitful years and with them wish her many more years pastoring her 
flock.

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