[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 2597-2598]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 RECOGNIZING REVEREND WAYNE BRIDEGROOM

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JEFF DENHAM

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 5, 2014

  Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate 
Reverend Wayne Bridegroom for receiving the Martin Luther King Legacy 
Award. After 40 years of being a pastor, this is a well-deserved 
recognition.
  In 1973, Rev. Bridegroom started at Central Baptist Church in West 
Modesto, where he still lives today. In 1981, he became the pastor and 
opened his doors to many ethnic groups. He began by ministering to 
Southeast Asian and Latino immigrants, but soon Central Baptist become 
home to the Laotian, Hmong, Cambodian and Hispanic populations as well. 
In 1980, he brought many of the Anglo churches from across town to form 
Modesto Outreach Ministry, which later became the Christian Challenge 
Ministries.
  Pastor Bridegroom has a unique ability to develop networks and put 
his talent to work, becoming the co-founder of Harvest of Hope. Harvest 
of Hope is a collaboration of church, neighborhood and county 
government which focuses on providing goods for needy families. In 
1989, he spearheaded a group called Love Inc., which paired people in 
need with agencies and volunteers in churches. He also helped in the 
founding of Weed and Seed, which led to First Tee, a golf mentoring 
program on the city's municipal course, and started Boy and Girl 
Scouting programs on the west side.
  In the last 20 years, Rev. Bridegroom has worked with the West 
Modesto King Kennedy neighborhood collaborative and helped improve 
relationships between police and the community. In 2000, Pastor 
Bridegroom helped form Congregations Building Communities, the PICO 
affiliate in Modesto. In addition, he assisted in forming a street 
lighting district to add streetlights to an unincorporated area of 
Southwest Modesto in 2005.
  More recently, he's been involved in calls for immigration reform. 
His church's congregation has been a mixing pot of Latino, Hmong, 
Cambodian and Laotian people sharing space and worshipping together. In 
June, he plans to officially retire as the Senior Pastor of his 
congregation, but plans to continue as an unpaid volunteer in that 
role.
  Pastor Bridegroom has also served as interviewer for Stanislaus 
County Sheriff candidates and City of Modesto police captains. He has 
organized a baseball league in west Modesto and chaired block parties 
for the National Night Out.
  Mr. Speaker, please join me in praising Pastor Wayne Bridegroom, for 
his significant contributions as a bridge between evangelicals and 
Catholics, U.S. citizens and immigrants, and his overall effort to 
provide a thriving foundation for our community.

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