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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives wish to recognize Bethel A.M.E. Church of
4Champaign on the occasion of its 160th anniversary; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Bethel A.M.E. Church established itself as a
6center for spiritual development and cultural, educational,
7and political activities for the African American community of
8Champaign County in its quest for racial and social uplift and
9self-determination, separate from the oppression of Jim Crow
10laws that congregants experienced in the larger society; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Bethel A.M.E. Church's early members were largely
12part of the "first wave" of African Americans who migrated
13mainly from the South between 1860 and 1880, during the period
14before the Civil War through the Reconstruction era; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Bethel A.M.E. Church was founded in 1863 by a
16small group of people who met for prayer in their homes; the
17church's first frame structure was built on a lot belonging to
18Mr. Jake Taylor at 405 E. Park Avenue for the cost of $600.00
19in 1864; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Bethel A.M.E. Church moved and expanded in 1881,
21with the church's frame being moved to the lot originally

 

 

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1purchased in 1877, which is the church's present location at
2Park Avenue and Fourth Street; during this period, the first
3parsonage was also built in the back of the church; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Bethel A.M.E. Church's membership reached 62 by
51888; the church held a meeting to build a new structure and
6incorporate on October 5, 1892, and its corporate name became
7The African Methodist Episcopal Church of Champaign, Illinois;
8and
 
9    WHEREAS, Bethel A.M.E. Church's trustees were given
10authorization to mortgage Lot 53 upon which the new church was
11erected; under the leadership of Reverend Harry Lackey, church
12trustees secured payment on a loan of $2,000 to the Citizen's
13Building Association of Urbana on August 23, 1892; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Bethel A.M.E. Church's new structure was
15completed and dedicated in January 1893, with its new brick
16building including beautiful colored-glass windows, an
17auditorium, a lecture room, a basement with a kitchen and a
18dining room, and an upstairs room, often called the Baraca
19room, which was used for many purposes, such as a library, a
20recreation room, and a choir room; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Bethel A.M.E. Church established the National
22Baraca-Philathea Bible Study Group in 1910, becoming the only

 

 

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1congregation, Black or white, in the Champaign-Urbana area to
2do so, and the group continued from 1910 to 1940; and
 
3    WHEREAS, In 1925, Bethel A.M.E. Church member Mrs. Sarah
4Watson passed away, stating in her will that the proceeds of
5the sale of her property at 1010 West Main Street in Urbana
6were to be given to church trustees for the purpose of
7liquidating the church's mortgage indebtedness, thereby
8freeing the congregation of its mortgage; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Bethel A.M.E. Church hosted the Illinois Annual
10Conference of the A.M.E. Church in 1897, 1922, and 1936; the
11church and its Sunday school also hosted Sunday school
12conventions; during the early part of the century, when
13segregation was at its peak, the church maintained a park on
14Ells Street for neighborhood children; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Bethel A.M.E. Church's membership reached 270 by
161938, which occurred during the first Great Migration; women
17from the church's Helping Hand Club began fundraising for a
18new church building in 1948; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Under the direction of Reverend Taborn, Bethel
20A.M.E. Church established a building committee in 1957, and
21the committee was later expanded to study the cost of
22renovating the old church or building a new structure; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, With its rich musical tradition, Bethel A.M.E.
2Church has had a choir since 1893; the church's first choir
3robes were purchased for $4.00 each in 1917; its choir was well
4organized by 1922, with a complete set of officers and various
5committees who all worked together to make the Bethel A.M.E.
6Choir the finest in the community and the district; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Bethel A.M.E. Church's Young Adult Choir,
8consisting of 25 voices under the direction of Ms. Shirley
9Hursey, purchased an electric organ in 1971 from the proceeds
10the choir earned from selling its Gospel record My Faith; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Bethel A.M.E. Church formed a new group called
12the Bethel Biblical Arts Players to perform dramatic
13productions in 1983, which was sponsored by private donations;
14the church group's first performance depicted the first
15"freedom march" and was conducted at the Annual Founder's Day
16Church Banquet in February 1986, with subsequent performances
17being held at the church's Family Thanksgiving Dinner and the
181990 Kwanzaa Celebration; therefore, be it
 
19    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
20HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
21we recognize Bethel A.M.E. Church on its 160th anniversary as
22a spiritual, social, cultural, and educational hub for the

 

 

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1members of the African American community, sustaining itself
2through the Civil War, the Reconstruction era, World Wars I
3and II, the Great Migration, the Great Depression, and the
4civil rights movement; and be it further
 
5    RESOLVED, That we recognize Bethel A.M.E. Church's
6continued commitment towards its faith and legacy, and its
7dedication to good works; and be it further
 
8    RESOLVED, That we commend the leadership of Pastor
9Terrance Thomas as he guides Bethel A.M.E. Church into the
10next generation.