[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 18876]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING REVEREND GERALD KISNER ON HIS 15TH ANNIVERSARY AS PASTOR OF 
                THE TABERNACLE MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH

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                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 2, 2010

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Rev. 
Gerald Kisner on his 15th anniversary as pastor of the Tabernacle 
Missionary Baptist Church in West Palm Beach, Florida. He has had a 
very long and honored career. After receiving his Master's degree from 
Case Western Reserve University, he graduated from Harvard University 
School of Law, where he was awarded a Dwight D. Eisenhower Scholarship, 
and received his Master of Divinity degree from Howard University.
  Before being called to the ministry, Rev. Kisner educated young 
people as a professor at Boston State College, Boston University and 
Palm Beach Atlantic College. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at 
Palm Beach Atlantic University's School of Ministry. He has 
demonstrated his love for his fellow man by serving as Assistant 
Director of Social Services in the Boston, Massachusetts Department of 
Public Welfare and, later, as the Assistant Director of Medical Care 
for that agency.
  Rev. Kisner's love for the law led him to become a Prosecutor and Law 
Director for the city of East Cleveland, Ohio and an Associate and 
Partner in two Cleveland area law firms. In Washington, DC, he joined 
one of that city's prominent firms and eventually opened his own 
practice. While in Washington, Gerald Kisner served as Director of the 
Office of Private Sector Development, again demonstrating his love for 
humanity. Still in Washington, his legal experience served him well as 
Deputy General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban 
Development.
  Moving to Atlanta, Georgia, Rev. Kisner became Executive Director of 
the English Avenue Community Development Corporation, continuing his 
service to government and people in need. Since November 1995, he has 
been pastor of the Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in West Palm 
Beach. Over the course of his career, he has received many prestigious 
awards, including the Bishop Wilfred Wood Award from Howard University, 
the Dr. Martin Luther King Service Award from the Urban League of Palm 
Beach County and a Spiritual Enlightenment Award. In 1999, he was 
inducted into the Board of Preachers of Martin Luther King 
International Chapel at Morehouse College.
  Madam Speaker, Gerald Kisner is a remarkable human being and a person 
who sets a fine example for us all to follow. I am fortunate to count 
him as a friend and I am pleased to join his family, many friends and 
colleagues and all who love and respect him in honoring him today.

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