[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 23, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E155-E156]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CELEBRATING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF DR. MELVIN BANKS

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                           HON. BOBBY L. RUSH

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 23, 2021

  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate and commemorate 
the life and works of Dr. Melvin Banks, the founder of Urban 
Ministries, Incorporated. A prodigious soul, by the age of 12, Dr. 
Banks was already spreading the word of the gospel throughout his 
native state of Alabama, sharing stories of the Bible with younger 
children. It was when he was preaching in Birmingham that Dr. Banks 
heard a verse from the Book of Hosea that would change his life ``My 
people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.'' Hearing this verse caused 
Dr. Banks to even further dedicate himself to spreading the gospel 
across the country and the world.
  Dr. Banks' study of the Bible would take him to Chicago's Moody Bible 
Institute, where he was one of the institution's few Black students, 
graduating in 1955. However, Dr. Banks' education as a Christian in 
Chicago would not revolve solely around the classroom. At the urging of 
a chapel speaker, Dr. Banks visited a Brethren church on the city's 
South Side. This experience led him to the vital realization that he 
didn't need to diminish his blackness to live the fullest Christian 
life that he could. There, Dr. Banks would also meet and marry Olive 
Perkins, who would remain his partner throughout his life. He then 
continued his theological education in the Chicagoland area

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at Wheaton College, earning a bachelor's degree in theology in 1958 and 
a master's degree in biblical studies in 1960.
  When working for a Christian publishing company after completing his 
degrees at Wheaton College, Dr. Banks found that he often struggled to 
sell the company's Sunday School curriculum to Black churches. The 
material was written by white authors and told solely from a white 
perspective. Black churches believed that their students may not be 
able to relate to it. This realization led Dr. Banks to a truly 
visionary idea: why not create a Sunday School curriculum that would 
resonate with the Black experience? It was with this idea in mind that 
Dr. Banks launched Universal Ministries, Inc., with the mission of 
making the Bible more relatable to Black Sunday School students.
  Beginning in his Chicago basement in 1970, Dr. Banks steadily grew 
Universal Ministries, Inc. to the point where it is today, with a 
customer base of over 40,000 for the company's Christian education 
resources. Thanks to the work of Universal Ministries, Inc., hundreds 
of thousands of Black Christians can see themselves and their 
experiences reflected in the texts of their faith. So titanic are the 
accomplishments of Universal Ministries, Inc., that the Evangelical 
Christian Publishers Association awarded Dr. Banks with their inaugural 
Kenneth N. Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.
  Madam Speaker, Dr. Banks passed away on February 13, 2021. His life's 
work continues through Universal Ministries, Inc., and the thousands of 
students who will benefit from the curriculums he assembled. He is 
survived by his wife Olive and three children, Melvin Jr., Patrice Lee, 
and Reginald. My deepest thoughts and prayers go out to Dr. Banks's 
friends, family, and all those who had the privilege to benefit, 
spiritually and emotionally, from his life's mission.

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