[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 17, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S5691]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO REVEREND CECIL WILLIAMS

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today I ask my colleagues to join 
me in celebrating the 85th birthday and extraordinary contributions of 
my dear friend, the Reverend Cecil Williams.
  For more than half a century, Reverend Williams has served as the 
founder and minister of Liberation at Glide Memorial United Methodist 
Church in San Francisco, CA. As a minister, community leader, author, 
lecturer, and champion of the poor and marginalized, Reverend Williams 
is widely recognized and revered as a national leader in the struggle 
for civil rights, human rights, and social change.
  Cecil Williams was born in San Angelo, TX, and from a very young age, 
this caring and sensitive boy was fondly known as ``the Rev'' by his 
close-knit family. Cecil grew up in the segregated South, but his 
strong, loving mother always told her son, ``You are going to be 
somebody.''
  After graduating from Huston-Tillotson University and the Perkins 
School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, Cecil Williams 
became the pastor of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church at a time 
when its congregation was dwindling. Reverend Williams embarked on his 
life's work: to make this church the center of a vibrant community that 
would reach out to all, particularly the poor, oppressed, and 
marginalized.
  Reverend Williams welcomed worshippers of all backgrounds, races, and 
sexual orientations. In 1964, he helped establish the Council on 
Religion and Homosexuality an organization dedicated to educating 
religious communities about gay and lesbian issues and stood up to 
police who attempted to shut down a dance benefit to raise funds for 
the new organization. Reverend Williams was also one of the first 
clergymen to take a stand for same-sex couples by presiding over their 
weddings four decades before today's struggle to legalize gay marriage.
  Under his leadership, Glide Memorial thrived and became a cornerstone 
of the community. He hosted poets, jazz musicians, and political 
activists at the church and launched a free meals program that serves 
750,000 meals a year, feeding more than 3,500 hungry people daily. 
Today more than 17,000 people participate in Glide programs, 
volunteering in its community clinic, childcare, and afterschool 
programs, housing services, and Daily Free Meals program.
  Reverend Williams is married to Janice Mirikitani, Founding President 
of the Glide Foundation, and together they direct Glide's many 
innovative social and cultural programs.
  In his life and work, Rev. Cecil Williams has embodied Glide 
Memorial's revolutionary mission: ``to create a radically inclusive, 
just and loving community mobilized to alleviate suffering and break 
the cycles of poverty and marginalization.''
  I am proud to join his family, friends, and many admirers in 
celebrating the 85th birthday and extraordinary contributions of Rev. 
Cecil Williams.

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