Text: SR00135 Text: SR00137 Text: SR00100 - SR00199 Text: SR Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN 1 1 SENATE RESOLUTION NO. ___ 1 2 BY SHEARER 1 3 A Resolution honoring James Samuel Thomas, former 1 4 bishop of the Iowa United Methodist Church. 1 5 WHEREAS, James Samuel Thomas began his Christian 1 6 service as an ordained minister and elder in the 1 7 Methodist Church of South Carolina, served various 1 8 churches as pastor, was a university chaplain, was a 1 9 seminary professor at Southern Methodist University in 1 10 Dallas, Texas, and later was a visiting professor of 1 11 sociology at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa; and 1 12 WHEREAS, in the early 1960s, the United States was 1 13 engaged in an intense struggle over civil rights for 1 14 all citizens, and during this time of unrest the 1 15 northern and southern conferences of the Methodist 1 16 Church held ecumenical discussions which led to 1 17 merging the predominantly white and black church 1 18 congregations; and 1 19 WHEREAS, in 1964, at the age of 45, the Reverend 1 20 Dr. Thomas was ordained as the youngest bishop ever to 1 21 serve Methodism, and the Iowa Conference of the 1 22 Methodist Church extended its hand of welcome to Dr. 1 23 James S. Thomas, who became the first black bishop of 1 24 the North Central Region of the Methodist Church when 1 25 he was elected to serve the Iowa Area by the North 1 26 Central Jurisdictional Conference in Cleveland, Ohio, 1 27 on July 11, 1964; and 1 28 WHEREAS, at the same session, the North Central 1 29 Jurisdictional Conference of the Methodist Church 1 30 ended the church's practice of segregation among its 2 1 17 jurisdictions by a vote of 370 to 0; and 2 2 WHEREAS, the appointment of Bishop James S. Thomas 2 3 to Iowa was characterized at the time as "an epoch in 2 4 our nation's advance in human relations", and through 2 5 his example of leadership and Christian ministry, 2 6 Bishop Thomas presided over the Methodist 2 7 congregations of Iowa for 12 years; and 2 8 WHEREAS, during the tenure of Bishop James S. 2 9 Thomas in Iowa, and with credit to the leadership of 2 10 Bishop Thomas, the Methodists merged with the 2 11 Evangelical United Brethren congregations in 1968 to 2 12 become the United Methodist Church; NOW THEREFORE, 2 13 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, That the Senate 2 14 extends its thanks and congratulations to Bishop James 2 15 S. Thomas and his family for their service to the 2 16 United Methodist Church and to the State of Iowa, and 2 17 acknowledges the work of Bishop James S. Thomas for 2 18 the advancement of civil rights in Iowa and in the 2 19 nation. 2 20 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That an official copy of 2 21 this Resolution be prepared for presentation to Bishop 2 22 James S. Thomas and be delivered to the Bishop on the 2 23 event of his birthday on April 8, 2002. 2 24 LSB 7234SS 79 2 25 av/pj/5
Text: SR00135 Text: SR00137 Text: SR00100 - SR00199 Text: SR Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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