Title
To honor and recognize Reverend Joseph A. Branch as he is installed as the Pastor of the New Life Baptist Church on Sunday, September 29, 2013.
Body
WHEREAS, Reverend Joseph A. Branch will be installed on Sunday, September 29, 2013 at 4:00 p.m. as the Pastor of the New Life Baptist Church located at 27020 Abington Road in Columbus, Ohio; and
WHEREAS, Rev. Branch, originally from Memphis, Tennessee, graduated from Howard University, in Washington, DC, in 1990, earning a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and Finance; and
WHEREAS, Rev. Branch, while at Howard University, lobbied on Capital Hill for Educational Funding, and marched against injustice against young African American Males; and
WHEREAS, Rev. Branch accepted his call to the Ministry in 1994 and began his journey of faith; receiving a Master's of Counseling Ministry in Pastoral Care & Counseling in May 2000 and a Master's of Divinity in May 2004, both from the Methodist Theological School in Ohio; and
WHEREAS, Rev. Branch has served as a chaplain in the Ohio Air National Guard since 2009 and in March of 2013 was awarded the Army Achievement Medal for meritorious service as a Chaplain at Landsthul Regional Medical Center in Landsthul, Germany; and
WHEREAS, Rev. Branch has served as the Director of Missions for the New Salem Missionary Baptist Church, Chaplain and Mental Health Unit Manager for the Ohio Department of Youth Services, Bureau Chief for the Ohio Alcohol & Drug Addiction Services, and the Program Manager for the Bell Center Residential Therapeutic Community, a behavioral modification program, and is currently employed with the Columbus City Schools; and
WHEREAS, Rev. Branch is an affiliate Professor at Ohio Christian University and serves as a board member of Patriot Preparatory Academy and is also a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor - Clinical Supervisor (LICDC-CS); and
WHEREAS, Rev. Branch has had the awesome opportunity to preach in the Townships of Pretoria, South Africa and Kaiserslautern, Germany; and
WHEREAS, Rev. Branch is the proud husband of the former Shelli E. Trent and has three wonderful children, Malcolm Benjamin, who is a junior at West Virginia State University, Lia Bachet' and Aisa Sani' who are both students at Grace Christian School; and
WHEREAS, Rev. Branch believes, "That God is the Restorer of Spiritual, Emotional, Physical & Mental wholeness;"; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
That this Council does hereby honor and recognize Reverend Joseph A. Branch as he is installed as pastor of the New Life Baptist Church on Sunday, September 29th 2013.