[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 2582]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              RECOGNIZING THE LIFE OF DR. ROBERT M. WOODS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 14, 2017

  Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
recognize the life of Dr. Robert M. Woods.
  Dr. Robert Mathew Woods, Evangelist, age 86, passed away on February 
8, 2017. Born on June 2, 1930 in Gallatin, Tennessee, Dr. Woods was the 
only son born to James Herkless (Herk) and Susie Woods. He had four 
sisters, Amanda, Mymie, Lottie, and Elsie, (all deceased). At the age 
of eleven, he enrolled in the Nashville Christian Institute (NCI), in 
Nashville, Tennessee. The late Bro. Marshall Keeble was president at 
the time. Dr. Woods preached his first sermon at age eleven and soon 
started to travel with Bro. Keeble as one of his ``Boy Preachers''.
  In 1949, he graduated from NCI and moved back to Gallatin, where he 
became the minister of his home congregation. In 1952, he married Anna 
Holiday and moved to the Chicago area. Dr. Woods served as minister of 
Monroe Street Church of Christ from September, 1952 until he retired on 
December 31, 1997, at which time he was ordained as Minister Emeritus.
  After the death of his first wife, Anna, Dr. Woods married the former 
Sara Marie Taylor. Dr. Woods was instrumental in implementing numerous 
programs during his tenure at Monroe Street Church of Christ. Among 
them are: a Summer Day Camp, an Intensive Teacher Training Program, an 
active Jail Ministry in the Cook County Jail where numerous inmates 
have been baptized in the Church, a Tutoring Program, Adopt-A-Child 
Program, and an Evangelism Outreach Program. He actively participated 
with the Block Club and the Midwest Community Council.
  He has conducted Gospel Meetings in many cities in the United States, 
as well as Bermuda and Nassau. He was often called upon to speak at 
multi-cultural functions to share views about the uniqueness of 
fellowship between blacks and whites. He often speaks on National, 
Southwestern, and Regional Lectureships. He served as a member of the 
Advisory Board for both the Midwest Lectureship and the Midwest Youth 
Conference. He has been a Trustee for Southwestern Christian College 
for over fifty years. He received an Honorary Doctorate from 
Southwestern Christian College in 1992.
  After retiring, Dr. Woods and his wife, Sara Marie moved to Villa 
Rica, Georgia. There they continued their work for the Lord's Church; 
actively serving as Minister at the Hayes-Glass Church of Christ in 
Breman, Georgia.
  He is survived by his wife, Sara Marie; Daughters, Sue and Sheri; 
Son, Stephen; Grandchildren, Ericka, Kilian and Janiah; Great-
Grandchildren, Kilian, Erick and Baron, and numerous other family & 
friends.
  Dr. Woods was often soft spoken and his messages carried great 
weight. It was nothing uncommon for two of our community's most 
endeared and beloved citizens to repeat or say what Pastor Brother 
Woods had told them or preached about; my barber for about thirty 
years, Lawyer Stevens and Ms. Nancy Jefferson, Executive of the Midwest 
Community Council, whom we called our community's Mother Theresa.
  Both of them were two of Brother Woods' star pupils and ardent 
parishioners and I am sure they would want people to know this.
  May he rest in peace and in love.

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