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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

  
 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate would like to 
3declare African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church Day on March 
427, 2019 and welcome the AME Church leaders and congregants 
5from the Fourth Episcopal District to  the Capitol; 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 in 1974 with Richard Allen as its pastor; and
  
 
13    WHEREAS, The geographical spread of the AMEC prior to the 
14Civil War was mainly restricted to the Northeast and Midwest; 
15the denomination reached the Pacific Coast in the early 1850s; 
16the most significant era of denominational development 
17occurred during the Civil War and Reconstruction; because of 
18its rapid spread below the Mason-Dixon line, AME membership 
19reached 400,000; and
  
 

  
20    WHEREAS, Today, the African American Methodist Episcopal 
21Church has membership in 20 Episcopal Districts in 44 countries 
22on five continents; the work of the Church is administered by 
 
 
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121 active bishops and nine General Officers, who manage the 
2departments of the Church; Reverend John Franklin White is the 
3130th Elected and Consecrated Bishop and is the Presiding 
4Bishop of the Fourth Episcopal District of the AME Church 
5(AMEC); he supervises AME Churches and pastors in Canada, 
6Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois; 
7his wife, Mrs. Penny Hartsfield White, is the Episcopal 
8Supervisor of the Fourth District; therefore, be it
  
 
9    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL 
10ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare African 
11Methodist Episcopal (AME) Day at the Capitol on March 27, 2019 
12and wish the AME continued success in its mission to minister 
13to the social, spiritual, and physical development of all 
14people.