HR0165LRB101 11452 ALS 57132 r


  
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, 2019 and welcome the 
5AME Church leaders and congregants from the Fourth Episcopal 
6District to  the Capitol; and
  
 
7    WHEREAS, The African Methodist Episcopal Church was born 
8through adversity and grew out of the Free African Society 
9(FAS), which was established in Philadelphia by Richard Allen, 
10Absalom Jones, and others in 1787; due to racial discrimination 
11at St. George's MEC, members made plans to transform their 
12mutual aid society into an African congregation; Bethel AME was 
13dedicated in 1974 with Richard Allen 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 countries 
 
 
HR0165- 2 -LRB101 11452 ALS 57132 r

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; Reverend John Franklin White is the 
4130th Elected and Consecrated Bishop and is the Presiding 
5Bishop of the Fourth Episcopal District of the AME Church 
6(AMEC); he supervises AME Churches and pastors in Canada, 
7Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois; 
8his wife, Mrs. Penny Hartsfield White, is the Episcopal 
9Supervisor of the Fourth District; therefore, be it
  
 
10    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE 
11HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that 
12we declare African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Day at the Capitol 
13on March 27, 2019 and wish the AME continued success in its 
14mission to minister to the social, spiritual, and physical 
15development of all people.