This website will be unavailable from Thursday, May 30, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. through Monday, June 3, 2024 at 7:00 a.m. due to data center maintenance.
H.R. No. 136
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, The congregation and friends of Sweet Union Baptist
Church of Jacksonville celebrated the 117th anniversary of the
church's founding on November 28, 2004; and
WHEREAS, In the late 1880s, area settlers Lum Coleman, John
Williams, Andy Steward, Henry Sanders, and Billy Smith took a
leadership role in establishing a worship center for African
Americans in the Jacksonville community; and
WHEREAS, Attending prayer meetings in the schoolhouse
located on Baptist College Hill, the present site of Jacksonville
College, the men invited the Reverend T. B. Johnson to preach at the
suggestion of Henry Sanders, and Reverend Johnson soon answered the
call to pastor the budding congregation; he organized the church on
March 10, 1887, and dedicated the next 50 years to its growth and
well-being; and
WHEREAS, Sweet Union has been blessed with dynamic pastoral
leadership from the beginning, including from pastors J. W.
Presley, J. J. Finley, W. A. I. McDonald, J. B. Mitchell, C. D.
Daniels, G. C. Melton, U. L. Sanders, J. W. Simpson, Karl
Hockernhull, S. A. Miles, W. Germon, and the Reverend Horace
Williams, who leads the congregation today ably assisted by the
church's associate minister, the Reverend John Davis; and
WHEREAS, Since its establishment, Sweet Union Baptist Church
has served as a spiritual home for generations of Texans, and it is
a privilege to join in honoring the church at this time; now,
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 79th Texas
Legislature hereby congratulate all those affiliated with Sweet
Union Baptist Church on the joyous occasion of the church's 117th
anniversary and extend to them sincere best wishes for a meaningful
and memorable event; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for the church as an expression of high regard by the Texas
House of Representatives.
Jones of Dallas
______________________________
Speaker of the House
I certify that H.R. No. 136 was adopted by the House on
February 17, 2005, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House