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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

  
 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of 
3Representatives would like to recognize African Methodist 
4Episcopal (AME) Day and welcome the AME leaders and congregants 
5from the Fourth District to  the Capitol on April 18, 2018; and
  
 
6    WHEREAS, The African Methodist Episcopal Church was born 
7through adversity and grew out of the Free African Society 
8(FAS), which was established in Philadelphia by Richard Allen, 
9Absalom Jones, and others in 1787; due to racial discrimination 
10at St. George's MEC, members made plans to transform their 
11mutual aid society into an African congregation; Bethel AME was 
12dedicated, with Richard Allen as its pastor, in 1794 and is the 
13oldest, continuously-owned property in America; and
  
 
14    WHEREAS, The geographical spread of the AMEC prior to the 
15Civil War was mainly restricted to the Northeast and Midwest; 
16the denomination reached the Pacific Coast in the early 1850s; 
17the most significant era of denominational development 
18occurred during the Civil War and Reconstruction; because of 
19its rapid spread below the Mason-Dixon line, AME membership 
20reached 400,000; and
  
 

  
21    WHEREAS, Today, the African American Methodist Episcopal 
22Church has membership in 20 Episcopal Districts in 39 countries 
 
 
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1on five continents; the work of the Church is administered by 
221 active bishops and nine General Officers, who manage the 
3departments of the Church; The Rt. Reverend John Franklin White 
4is the Presiding Bishop of the Fourth Episcopal District of the 
5AME Church (AMEC); he supervises AME Churches and pastors in 
6Canada, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and 
7Illinois; his wife, Mrs. Penny Hartsfield-White, is the 
8Episcopal Supervisor of the Fourth District; therefore, be it
  
 
9    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE 
10HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we 
11recognize African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Day at the Capitol 
12on April 18, 2018 and wish the AME continued success in its 
13mission to minister to the social, spiritual, and physical 
14development of all people.