SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

2008 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 559
Commending Shiloh Baptist Church on the occasion of its 145th anniversary.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, March 5, 2008
Agreed to by the Senate, March 6, 2008

 

WHEREAS, Shiloh Baptist Church, located in Alexandria, will celebrate its 145th anniversary in 2008; and

WHEREAS, Shiloh Baptist Church was founded in Newton at L'Ouverture Hospital, which served as a military hospital for colored soldiers and was located in the “Price & Birch's old slave prison yard,” which was used during the war to jail deserters; and

WHEREAS, during the Civil War, the Union Army occupied the City of Alexandria, and the area became a haven for runaway slaves; and

WHEREAS, Shiloh Baptist Church began on March 29, 1863, as the Old Shiloh Society when 50 former slaves gathered in a government mess hall to worship; and

WHEREAS, the first church ministers were the Reverends Charles Rodgers, E. Owens, and Leland Warring, and Shiloh Baptist Church’s first edifice was a simple frame church built adjacent to West and Duke Streets and dedicated on September 26, 1865; and

WHEREAS, the Reverend Henry H. Warring succeeded his father as pastor, and work on the second edifice, which is the present church, began in 1891, and the beautiful new building with its great bell tower, eight stained-glass windows, and modern circular oak pews was dedicated on October 1, 1893; and

WHEREAS, during Pastor Warring’s 22 years of service a Trustee Board, Missionary Circle,  Deacon Board, Sunday School, and church choir were formed; and

WHEREAS, the church flourished, and the Reverends McKee, J.H. Marshall, and Frank E. Hearns were other early pastors, and the mothers of the church or Deaconess board was established, as well as the Usher Board and Willing Workers Club; and

WHEREAS, the church purchased its first electric organ, and the Gospel Chorus, composed of young people, was organized during the tenure of the Reverend J. Edward Stevens; and

WHEREAS, under the guidance of the Reverend Moses William Beasley, who served from 1947 to 1986, Shiloh Baptist Church became a member of the National Baptist Convention and the National Congress of Christian Education, and a multitude of ministries and programs for the congregation and the community were founded; and

WHEREAS, the City of Alexandria Welfare Department opened an integrated day care center at the church in the mid-1960s, and in 1972 Shiloh Baptist Church became the first church in Alexandria to purchase a bus to meet the transportation needs of its members; and

WHEREAS, the compassionate congregation of Shiloh Baptist Church supports many missions at home and abroad, including the Hopkins House, Carpenters Shelter, Alexandria Black History Resource Center, United Negro College Fund, Northern Virginia Baptist Center, National Congress of Christian Education, Alexandria Hospital, Victim Victory, Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation, Unshackled Jail/Prison Ministry, Shalom Ministry, and the Lott Carey Convention; and

WHEREAS, the inspirational present pastor, the Reverend Lee A. Earl, joined Shiloh Baptist Church in 1997, and under his pastorate the church supports five outstanding ministry areas of Christian Education, Community Service, Evangelism, Fellowship, and Worship; and

WHEREAS, throughout its long history, Shiloh Baptist Church has been served by able pastors and lay people and has provided its devoted congregation, its neighbors, and the community a place to worship, to help others, and to grow in faith and service; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend and congratulate Shiloh Baptist Church on the occasion of its 145th anniversary; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Shiloh Baptist Church as an expression of the General Assembly's best wishes for a joyful celebration and future success in its ministry.