RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council would like to congratulate Reverend Dr. B. Herbert Martin, Sr. on his retirement after serving 37 years as the senior pastor of Progressive Community Center - The People's Church; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of this event by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and
WHEREAS, Reverend Dr. B. Herbert Martin, Sr. was born in Mound Bayou, Mississippi and received the call to ministry at the age of 9; and
WHEREAS, He came of age during the Civil Rights Movement, suffering violence at the hands of Mississippi racists, but became involved with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; and
WHEREAS, Reverend Martin earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Philander Smith College in 1967, then attended Payne Theological Seminary and Garrett Evangelical Seminary, from which he earned his Master of Divinity degree in 1971; and
WHEREAS, He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letter from Monrovia College, an academic Doctor of Ministry from McCormick Theological Seminary and an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Chicago Theological Seminary; and
WHEREAS, Reverend Martin served as a Methodist pastor for twenty years at two churches, one on the west side of Chicago, and the other on the south side, before finding his calling as a Senior Pastor at the Progressive Community Center - the People's Church, where he served from 1981 until the present; and
WHEREAS, Outside of the church, Reverend Martin gave back to his community and served as Executive Director and eventually President of the Chicago Southside Branch of the NAACP, the Board of Directors and Chairman for the Chicago Housing Authority, was appointed by Mayor Eugene Sawyer as Chairman of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, led "Operation Safe Passage," and co-chaired the African-American/Jewish Seder; and
WHEREAS, Additionally, Revere...
Click here for full text