[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 26598]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                        ON REVEREND JIM MITULSKI

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, December 11, 2000

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I wish today to pay tribute to the Reverend 
Jim Mitulski, a true friend and hero to thousands of people in need. 
For 15 years Reverend Mitulski has lead the congregation at the 
metropolitan Community Church (MCC) in San Francisco. Through his 
caring and compassion, his action and his deeds, he epitomizes the real 
spirit of Christianity.
  Fifteen years ago, when Reverend Mitulski first came to MCC, situated 
in the heart of San Francisco's Castro District, the city was facing 
the onslaught of the AIDS epidemic. Reverend Mitulski recognized the 
needs and rose to the challenge, providing sanctuary and sustenance--
physical, spiritual, emotional, and psychological--to his congregants 
and other members of the community. He provided a safe haven, support, 
acceptance, and love for the sick and dying, some of whom had been 
rejected by their own families. He ministered to those in need with 
unflagging compassion and enabled them to live out their lives with 
dignity. Over the course of his service at MCC, Reverend Mitulski 
presided over 500 funerals of his parishioners. He never gave up hope 
and he never stopped serving as a source of faith and inspiration to 
the survivors.
  Mr. Speaker, I join the other members of the San Francisco community 
who have met Reverend Mitulski's decision to resign with a mixture of 
sadness and happiness. We are sad that he is stepping down, but happy 
that he is finding new ways to contribute to our community and to grow. 
Mostly, however, we are grateful for his leadership, his spirit of 
Christianity, his unselfish offering up of everything he had, and his 
untiring willingness to work within a community in crisis as it faced 
untold losses. Rev. Jim Mitulski is an example of the best of what San 
Francisco has to offer. We have been blessed by his years of service 
and wish him all the best in his new endeavors.

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