[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 32 (Monday, February 29, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E247]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    CELEBRATING 70 YEARS OF INDIANA AVENUE MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH

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                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, February 29, 2016

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as the month of February 2016 
comes to a close to recognize a milestone anniversary in the life of 
Toledo's Indiana Avenue Baptist Church. This month the congregation has 
been celebrating its 70th anniversary with a series of special 
gatherings. I was privileged to join the congregation yesterday.
  Founded by Reverend M. J. Stephenson in February 1946, the 
congregation has been shepherded by Reverend John Roberts for more than 
half a century. Pastor Roberts, in fact, was part of the organizational 
meeting of the church. Thus, this long standing beacon in our city has 
been blessed with a continuity of leadership since its beginnings.
  Indiana Avenue Missionary Baptist Church's first services in its 
building were held in its lower level in 1948. An upper level was added 
twenty years later and since 1980 services have been held in its newer 
sanctuary. In 1989 a fellowship hall was added which has served the 
congregation very well, with special focus on activities for youth. The 
hall bears the name of founding Pastor Stephenson and longtime Pastor 
Roberts.
  Starting with less than 100 members, the congregation of Indiana 
Avenue Missionary Baptist Church has served over 7,000 people through 
its seven decades and currently serves about 2,000 people. An anchor in 
our community, the church serves its faithful while ministering to the 
needs of its neighbors. One of the wonderful traditions at the church 
is the Interfaith Mass Choir. The choir's beautiful blend of voices 
soar in faith-filled praise, lifting up in joy those it reaches through 
song.
  Psalms Chapter 18 Verse 2 tells us, ``The Lord is my rock, my 
fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my 
shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.'' Through the days 
of its ``threescore and ten'' years, the shepherds and flock of Indiana 
Avenue Missionary Baptist Church have lived this truth as their lives 
have given testament to Jesus' message of love which ``bears all 
things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.'' (1 
Corinthians 13:7)

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