Rev. Henry Soles Biography

The Reverend Henry Soles, senior chaplain of the Chicago Bulls, has dedicated his career to community improvement. He serves as associate minister to DuPage County A.M.E. Church in Lisle, Illinois, and is the corporate consultant for the Chicago-based Owens Group. Aside from being a respected community leader, Soles has been an award-winning editor, a journalist for a New York City daily newspaper, and a television personality as host of an Emmy-nominated talk show.

As the chaplain for the Bulls, Soles leads pre-game Christian chapel services and helps the athletes reflect upon their lives away from the basketball court. Soles is the founding board chairman of the DuPage County Housing Association, a nonprofit agency providing 260 housing units for low- and moderate-income persons, and is a founding trustee of the DuPage Prayer Breakfast Committee. He has served on the boards of various organizations, including Gospel Outreach, Serenity House, the Chicago Mental Health Council, the DuPage Prevention Partnership, the Mid-America Leadership Foundation, the Wheaton-Carol United Way, the DuPage Housing Authority and the Wheaton History Center.

Soles has received numerous awards, honors and recognitions for his work, including: the Serenity House Man of the Year Award in 1997, the 2001 Adult Citizen of the Year Award from the city of Wheaton, and a Lifetime Achievement in Media Award from the DuPage A.M.E. Church. He has been profiled in numerous local and national publications and is a much sought-after inspirational speaker.

He is married to the Reverend Effie Whittle Soles, an ordained minister, Wheaton College staff person and international inspirational speaker.

Soles was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on August 23, 2002.