congressional_record: CREC-2002-11-22-pt1-PgE2134-3
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| granule_id | date | congress | session | volume | issue | title | chamber | granule_class | sub_granule_class | page_start | page_end | speakers | bills | citation | full_text |
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| CREC-2002-11-22-pt1-PgE2134-3 | 2002-11-22 | 107 | 2 | TRIBUTE TO REVEREND LAVAUGHN VENCHAEL BOOTH | HOUSE | EXTENSIONS | TRIBUTETO | E2134 | E2135 | [{"name": "Rob Portman", "role": "speaking"}] | 148 Cong. Rec. E2134 | Congressional Record, Volume 148 Issue 152 (Friday, November 22, 2002) [Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 152 (Friday, November 22, 2002)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages E2134-E2135] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] TRIBUTE TO REVEREND LAVAUGHN VENCHAEL BOOTH ______ HON. ROB PORTMAN of ohio in the house of representatives Friday, November 22, 2002 Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and accomplishments of Reverend Lavaughn Venchael Booth, a distinguished friend and champion of faith and justice from Cincinnati, who passed away on November 17. Born on January 7, 1919 in Covington County, Mississippi, Reverend Booth received a bachelor's degree in American history from Alcorn A&M College; a bachelor's degree in divinity from Howard University; and a master's degree in church history from the University of Chicago Divinity School. He began his ministry with First Baptist Church of Warrenton, Virginia and continued his ministry with First Baptist Church of Gary, Indiana. He pastored Zion Baptist Church in the Avondale area of Cincinnati for 32 years before founding the Olivet Baptist Church in Silverton. Last year, he came out of retirement to pastor the Church upon the Rock in Anderson, Indiana. In 1961, Reverend Booth founded the Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC). The PNBC became the household of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement among African-American Baptists. As Dr. Lewis V. Baldwin noted, ``King, while siding with progressives, had no active role with the organization of the PNBC.'' Dr. King at his last meeting with the PNBC in 1967 in Cincinnati emphasized according to convention minutes ``that he is a member of the PNBC. He has come to speak not as a civil rights leader, but as a minister of the gospel.'' The PNBC split from the National Baptist Convention and formed a denomination that played an active role in the civil rights movement by joining with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and provided Dr. King with a national platform. Reverend Booth served as its president from 1971-1974. Progressives today have 2.5 million members in 1,800 churches nationwide. But Reverend Booth's focus was his local ministry, and he said, ``We should have concern for the physical, as well as the spiritual well- being of people.'' He initiated economic development projects, secured the credit to build hundreds of low-income housing units and a church- run nursing home, and later established the region's first black-owned bank. Described as a visionary who dedicated his life to the Lord, he was driven to do for others, trying to make the world and his community a better place to live. Reverend Booth's civil and community activities are legendary. He was the first African-American member of the University of Cincinnati Board of Trustees. He was a founding member of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, served on the board of the Cincinnati City Gospel Mission and as vice president of the Gospel World Alliance. He helped to establish the Marva Collins Preparatory School in Cincinnati; the Cincinnati Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast, a service that offered prayers for newly-elected public servants; and the National Prayer League. Reverend Booth is survived by his sons, Paul Booth of Cincinnati, who is a member of [[Page E2135]] the Cincinnati City Council; Lavaughn Booth Jr. of Chicago; and Rev. Dr. William Booth of Hampton, Virginia; and daughters Anna-Marie Booth of San Francisco, and Dr. Georgia Leeper of Memphis. He is also survived by 14 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. We are blessed by his life and having known him.016 ____________________ |