[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 134 (Wednesday, October 2, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1415-E1416]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         BISHOP D. RAYFORD BELL

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 2, 2013

  Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, born Dennis Raphael 
Bell, in Leflore County, Mississippi, on July 9, 1923; to sharecropper 
parents. Dennis was raised by his grandparents.
  In spite of the absence of a dream of better conditions; something 
within him, at a very early age, rebelled against the status quo. He 
discovered in the South, if Black people refused to sink in despair and 
accept things as they were, then they had better have a ray of light 
from above. Bishop Bell is convinced it was that ray of light that 
brought him from the backwoods of Mississippi to the glorious heights 
of Pentecost; from a Mississippi plowboy to a Prince of the Church of 
God.
  In 1938, after living briefly in Morley, Missouri; a fifteen-year-old 
Dennis returned to Mississippi to find a new girl had moved into the 
area; Darlene Griffin. On July 20th, 1942, Darlene and Dennis were 
married. To this union were born two sons, Harvey and Curtis, and nine 
grandchildren. Shortly after Harvey was born, Dennis was drafted into 
the U.S. Army. After training, he was sent to Europe, where he saw 
action in the campaign of Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland, and 
Central Europe. He was honorably discharged December 9th, 1945.
  Bishop Bell received the Holy Ghost on April 1, 1949. Since that day, 
God has continually perfected that which concerned Bishop Bell. It has 
not always been easy, but the ray of light has never gone out.
  Bishop Bell has constantly sought to improve himself. After finishing 
his high school

[[Page E1416]]

education at LaSalle University in Chicago, one of his teachers told 
him ``if the elevator to success is not running, take the stairs.'' 
Bishop Bell was conferred his Bachelors degree with honors from 
Southwestern College in Oklahoma City, OK. As a straight ``A'' student 
at American Bible College, he was conferred a Masters of Theology. He 
continued onward and was conferred a Doctoral degree in Theology and 
Philosophy by Toledo Bible College and Seminary. Bishop Bell was the 
first person in that school's history to earn two doctorate degrees in 
one year.
  In August of 1990, after 48 years of marriage and a lengthy illness, 
a grieving Bishop Bell buried his beloved Darlene. In God's timing, the 
Lord saw fit to send a ray of sunshine into Bishop Bell's life, in the 
form of Jacqueline Collins of Cincinnati, Ohio. They were married in 
April of 1991.
  An Apostolic preacher for over 55 years, Bishop Bell has spent a 
great part of his life serving the people of God in many ways. In 
addition to serving his church, he also serves the community as a 
Chaplain for the Chicago Police Department. Bishop Bell came up through 
the ranks of Christ Temple Church, serving in such positions as Sunday 
School teacher, Assistant and then Superintendent; Vice and Chairman of 
the Youth Department; Trustee; Assistant Pastor; Pastor in 1958 and now 
Senior Pastor. He is the founder of the Christ Temple Apostolic Church 
in Joliet, as well as, the founder and President of Midwest Apostolic 
Bible College in Chicago. He also founded Samuel Barnes Christian 
Academy, a K-8th grade school named in memory of his pastor and he 
created the Mother Darlene Bell Scholarship Fund to assist the 
educational dreams of deserving students.
  Dr. Bell served as the Assistant Presiding Bishop of the Pentecostal 
Churches of the Apostolic Faith, for 19 years, along side his best 
friend, the late Bishop Elzie W. Young. Thereafter, his tenure as the 
Presiding Prelate was from January 1990 to July 2000. He now holds the 
title of Senior Bishop.
  Bishop Bell has preached the Gospel from the street corners of 
Chicago to 49 states in America, over 50 countries, on all five 
inhabited continents, and to the isles of the sea. His chief joy 
continues to be the opportunity to share the life of Jesus Christ with 
someone. The sentiments of his heart play almost like the lyrics of a 
song which says, ``if I can help somebody as I travel along, if I can 
cheer somebody with a word or song, if I can tell somebody that he is 
traveling wrong, then my living shall not be in vain.''
  It has been my great pleasure to be associated with Bishop Bell and 
his family since the 1960's when I was his nephew Fred Davis' Social 
Studies teacher.
  Bishop, we all love and revere you for having been a great leader of 
your people and a blessing to all.

                          ____________________