HR1273 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1273 LRB100 21643 ALS 38854 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to congratulate Pastor Watson Jones III on his election as the Senior Pastor of Compassion Baptist Church in Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Pastor Jones has a Bachelor of Arts in Business from Trinity International University, a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in African American Preaching and Sacred Rhetoric from Christian Theological Seminary; and

WHEREAS, Before his election at Compassion Baptist Church, Pastor Jones served as a Staff Pastor, Children's Pastor, and eventually Youth Pastor at his home church, Salem Baptist Church of Chicago, where he also led a group of 1,000 members in various church-wide activities; he then served in a dual, two-year church-planting residency under the leadership of Dr. Eric Mason of Epiphany Fellowship in North Philadelphia and Fellowship Associates in Little Rock Arkansas; he was the Lead and Founding Pastor of Restoration Church, which he started in the Germantown section of Philadelphia; he also served as the Director of Multicultural Development at Trinity International University; and

WHEREAS, Pastor Jones delivered his first official sermon in the pulpit at Compassion Baptist Church on February 4, 2018; and

WHEREAS, Pastor Jones and his wife, Kelli, have three children, Yeshaya, Watson IV, and Ellison; they reside on Chicago's South Side; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Pastor Watson Jones III on his election as the Senior Pastor of Compassion Baptist Church, and we wish him continued success; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Pastor Jones as an expression of our esteem and respect.