[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 21]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 31290]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



     TRIBUTE TO REVEREND DR. LOUIS RAWLS, PASTOR OF THE TABERNACLE 
                MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH OF CHICAGO, IL

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                           HON. BOBBY L. RUSH

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 18, 1999

  Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to and honor the 
Reverend Dr. Louis Rawls on the occasion of the celebration his tenure 
as Pastor of the Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church of Chicago, 
Illinois.
  Dr. Rawls was born July 16, 1905 in Union, Mississippi to the union 
of James Rawls, Sr. and Louiza Donnell. Dr. Rawls accepted the call of 
the Lord at the age of twenty-six. He served as pastor of Canaan 
Baptist Church for nearly ten years. In 1941, the Lord directed Dr. 
Rawls to organize the Tabernacle Baptist Church, where he has served as 
Pastor, preacher and teacher for the past fifty-eight years. With the 
power of the Holy Spirit, Dr. Rawls has felowshipped more than 23,000 
souls into the church.
  Dr. Rawls graduated from Wendell Phillips High School in 1928 and 
Moody Bible Institute in 1934. Dr. Rawls is the recipient of eight 
earned degrees and six honorary degrees. Dr. Rawls was a founding 
member of the Chicago Baptist Institute and the founder of the Illinois 
Baptist State Convention. He has served on numerous boards including, 
the NAACP, the National Association of Evangelists and the National 
Religious Broadcasters of America.
  Building a ministry that focuses on the total man, Dr. Rawls founded 
the Willa Rawls Manor and the Tabernacle Community Hospital and Health 
Center. Dr. Rawls has worked extensively in the civil rights movement 
with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev. Jesse Jackson, the NAACP and the 
Urban League. Dr. Rawls is a devoted and loving family man to his wife, 
Willa and his three children, Lou, Samuel, and Julius Lee.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to join with thousands of family and friends 
who will gather in Chicago on November 27, 1999 to recognize the life 
achievements of Reverend Dr. Louis Rawls, Pastor of the Tabernacle 
Missionary Baptist Church and I want to encourage Dr. Rawls to continue 
to be steadfast and unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord. 
I am truly honored to pay tribute to this outstanding Servant of God 
and am privileged to enter these words into the Congressional Record of 
the United States House of Representatives.

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