[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5710]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF REVEREND LESTER J. GILLESPIE, SR.

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. HENRY CUELLAR

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 5, 2005

  Mr. CUELLAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the important 
contributions of the Reverend Lester J. Gillespie, Sr.
  Rev. Gillespie is a native of San Antonio, Texas. He comes from a 
family tradition of spiritual service; he is the son of the late Rev. 
W.G. Gillespie and the late Sister Vernell Gillespie-Jones. He received 
his Bachelor and Doctor of Divinity from the Guadalupe Baptist 
Theological Seminary, as well as a Doctor of Divinity from the American 
International Theological Seminary.
  Lester Gillespie has had a long and distinguished career of community 
service and religious leadership. He is a former Pastor of the Mount 
Olive Baptist Church in Crystal City, Texas, the 2nd Vice President of 
the Ministers Conference of the National Baptist Convention of America, 
and Moderator of the United Fellowship Baptist District Association. He 
has worked to reach out to some of our State's most troubled citizens 
as Chaplain of the Frio County Jail Ministry and Chairman of the Gang 
Intervention Committee of the Southern Baptist Association of San 
Antonio.
  Currently, Rev. Gillespie serves as the Organizer and Pastor of the 
Greater Love Missionary Church in San Antonio, and National President 
of the Ministers United for Ministerial Development. He provides 
invaluable spiritual leadership to both his San Antonio church and the 
national Baptist community. Finally, he helps to build a future for the 
next generation as founder of the Rev. W.G. Gillespie and Vernell 
Gillespie-Jones Memorial Institute Scholarship Fund.
  Mr. Speaker, Reverend Gillespie is one of our most accomplished and 
beloved community leaders, and I am proud and happy to have the chance 
to honor him here today.