[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 109 (Thursday, June 27, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E858]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 IN RECOGNITION OF THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF MT. PLEASANT BAPTIST CHURCH

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EMANUEL CLEAVER

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 27, 2019

  Mr. CLEAVER. Madam Speaker, it is my honor to rise today to celebrate 
Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church's 100th Anniversary and recognize it for 
its numerous contributions to the greater Kansas City area. I am truly 
honored to have this house of worship and pillar of faith in my 
Congressional District.
  Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church is in Kansas City's historic 18th and 
Vine District, a neighborhood critical to the life and development of 
the African American community. In the 1920s, 18th and Vine began to 
grow, becoming a creative hub of African American culture and shaping 
the future of Kansas City for the better. Founded in 1919, Mt. Pleasant 
Baptist Church was crucial to this cultural renaissance. Churches 
throughout this period were centers of community and support. They 
provided members hope and encouragement in the face of seemingly 
hopeless challenges like inequality, discrimination, and segregation. 
For a century, Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church has been a vehicle for 
social justice and change within Kansas City's African American 
community.
  Today, churches continue to be a keeper of cultural tradition, a 
center of storytelling, and the core of African American community. As 
writer Shauntae Brown White wrote, ``Storytelling that connects is an 
act of resonance that fulfills the second tenant of Afrocentric 
discourse, creating harmony in the midst of chaos.'' For the past 100 
years, the congregation of Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church has produced 
some of the brightest leaders, innovators, thinkers, and artists in 
Missouri's Fifth Congressional District.
  Today, Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church serves as a spiritual anchor 
within the Kansas City community. The church transforms the lives of 
its members for the better, unites people of all ages and supports them 
as they seek to live according to the teachings of Jesus Christ. For 
the past thirty-three years, Pastor L. Henderson Bell has led the 
church to be a house of hope for those facing adversity in the 
community. Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church not only is a center of 
spiritual development but a hub of service in its community, embodying 
James 2:17's assertion that, ``Faith by itself, if it has no works, is 
dead.'' The church serves the poor and marginalized members of the 
community by reaching out to them and providing educational 
opportunities, Bible study classes, health and scholarship trainings, 
and programs for music and dance.
  Mt. Pleasant Baptist has been and continues to be an advocate for the 
underserved and a champion of the faithful in Kansas City. Its century 
worth of contributions to the soul of Missouri's Fifth Congressional 
District are worthy of praise and recognition. Madam Speaker, please 
join me in celebrating and honoring Pastor L. Henderson Bell and the 
congregation of Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, both past and present, for 
achieving this milestone.

                          ____________________