[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3618]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING DR. CHARLES GILCHRIST ADAMS

  (Mr. CONYERS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, even though he is very much alive, I rise 
this evening to celebrate the inspired life and contributions of the 
Reverend Dr. Charles Adams, who, on April 30 of this year, will be 
completing his teaching at the Harvard Divinity School, where he has 
for years conducted these important courses that he has taught.
  Earlier, he was the head of the largest NAACP chapter in the Nation, 
the Detroit chapter. He has inspired countless numbers of people on 
this planet to a greater faith and in the necessity to follow up with 
the work to produce the change, the compassion that in some ways, 
sometimes large and other times small, can dispense hope in a 
community, a State, a Nation, and sometimes even a world.

                      Dr. Charles Gilchrist Adams


                Pastor, Hartford Memorial Baptist Church

 William and Lucille Nickerson Professor of the Practice of Ethics and 
                   Ministry, Harvard Divinity School

       Charles G. Adams, one of the most prominent ministers in 
     the United States, an acclaimed preacher and leader on faith-
     based urban revitalization has been Pastor of Hartford 
     Memorial Baptist Church since 1969. From 1962 to 1969 Dr. 
     Adams served as Pastor of the historic Concord Baptist Church 
     in Boston, Massachusetts. He has lectured on homiletics and 
     Black Church Studies at Boston University, Andover Newton 
     School of Theology, Central Baptist Seminary in Kansas City, 
     and Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado.
       Charles Gilchrist Adams, was born December 13, 1936, in 
     Detroit, Michigan. He was baptized by his granduncle, the 
     late Gordon Blaine Hancock, of Richmond, Virginia. He 
     attended Fisk University where he was President of the 
     Sophomore Class and Vice President of the Student Council.
       He graduated with honors from the University of Michigan 
     and Harvard University and went on to become a doctoral 
     fellow in Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He has 
     been awarded twelve honorary doctorates from such 
     institutions as Morehouse College, Marygrove College, Dillard 
     University, Morris College, Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo 
     Michigan, and the University of Michigan.
       From 1962 to 1969, Dr. Adams served as Pastor of the 
     historic Concord Baptist Church in Boston, Massachusetts, 
     followed by an appointment as the Pastor of Hartford Memorial 
     Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, in 1969. He has lectured 
     on homiletics and Black Church studies in Boston University, 
     Andover Newton School of Theology, Central Baptist Seminary 
     in Kansas City, and Iliff School of Theology in Denver, 
     Colorado. He lectured seven times at Boston University School 
     of Theology in a course on the Black Church taught by 
     Professor Preston Noah Williams.
       In April 1989, Dr. Adams was invited to speak before the 
     United Nations on South African apartheid. In August 1990, he 
     was a speaker for the World Congress of the Baptist World 
     Alliance in Seoul, Korea. His theme was ``Together In Christ 
     We Love.''
       In 1991, Dr. Adams addressed the Seventh General Assembly 
     of the World Council of Churches in Canberra, Australia, and 
     spoke on the 157 theme, ``Come Holy Spirit, Renew The Whole 
     Creation. At this Assembly, he was elected to their 
     organization's Central Committee. He recommended the World 
     Council use its offices and resources to combat racism in the 
     U.S. and around the world, and their response was to join 
     forces with the National Council of the Churches of Christ in 
     the USA. Together, the organizations converged on Los Angeles 
     in 1992 to meet with churches, gang leaders, public officials 
     and citizens in order to bring about a lasting peace after 
     the riots following the verdict in the beating of Rodney 
     King.
       Dr. Adams was the 1993-94 Conference Preacher for Hampton 
     University Ministers Conference held in Hampton, Virginia. He 
     has been awarded twelve honorary doctorates from colleges and 
     universities across the country, has spoken before the United 
     Nations (on South African Apartheid), and has received the 
     coveted ``Rabbi Marvin Katzenstein Award'' from the Harvard 
     Divinity School. This is given to a Harvard graduate who 
     exhibits ``a passionate and helpful interest in the lives of 
     other people, an informed and realistic faithfulness, and an 
     embodiment of the idea that love is not so much a way of 
     feeling as way of acting and has a reliable sense of humor.''
       Dr. Adams' board affiliations include the Baptist World 
     Alliance, the World Council of Churches, the National Council 
     of Churches, the Congress of National Black Churches, 
     Morehouse College (Atlanta, GA) and Morris College (Sumpter, 
     SC). He is married to Agnes Hadley Adams and is the father of 
     Tara Adams Washington, M.D., and the Rev. Charles Christian 
     Adams.

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