HR0165 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0165 LRB101 11452 ALS 57132 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives would like to declare African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church Day on March 27, 2019 and welcome the AME Church leaders and congregants from the Fourth Episcopal District to the Capitol; and

WHEREAS, The African Methodist Episcopal Church was born through adversity and grew out of the Free African Society (FAS), which was established in Philadelphia by Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, and others in 1787; due to racial discrimination at St. George's MEC, members made plans to transform their mutual aid society into an African congregation; Bethel AME was dedicated in 1974 with Richard Allen as its pastor; and

WHEREAS, The geographical spread of the AMEC prior to the Civil War was mainly restricted to the Northeast and Midwest; the denomination reached the Pacific Coast in the early 1850s; the most significant era of denominational development occurred during the Civil War and Reconstruction; because of its rapid spread below the Mason-Dixon line, AME membership reached 400,000; and

WHEREAS, Today, the African American Methodist Episcopal Church has membership in 20 Episcopal Districts in 44 countries on five continents; the work of the Church is administered by 21 active bishops and nine General Officers, who manage the departments of the Church; Reverend John Franklin White is the 130th Elected and Consecrated Bishop and is the Presiding Bishop of the Fourth Episcopal District of the AME Church (AMEC); he supervises AME Churches and pastors in Canada, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois; his wife, Mrs. Penny Hartsfield White, is the Episcopal Supervisor of the Fourth District; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Day at the Capitol on March 27, 2019 and wish the AME continued success in its mission to minister to the social, spiritual, and physical development of all people.