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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives would like to declare African Methodist
4Episcopal (AME) Church Day on March 27, 2021 and celebrate the
5AME Church's 205th anniversary of their founding in 1816; 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
10discrimination at St. George's MEC, members made plans to
11transform their mutual aid society into an African
12congregation; Bethel AME was dedicated in 1974 with Richard
13Allen as its pastor; 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 44

 

 

HR0090- 2 -LRB102 13032 LAW 18375 r

1countries on five continents; the work of the Church is
2administered by 21 active bishops and nine general officers,
3who manage the departments of the Church; Reverend John
4Franklin White is the 130th Elected and Consecrated Bishop and
5is the Presiding Bishop of the Fourth Episcopal District of
6the AME Church (AMEC); he supervises AME Churches and pastors
7in Canada, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and
8Illinois; his wife, Mrs. Penny Hartsfield White, is the
9Episcopal Supervisor of the Fourth District; therefore, be it
 
10    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
11HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
12we declare African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church Day on
13March 27, 2021 and congratulate the AME Church on their 205th
14anniversary; and be it further
 
15    RESOLVED, that we recognize the Fourth District Council
16for its leadership and service, and we wish the AME continued
17success in its mission to minister to the social, spiritual,
18and physical development of all people.