HR1248 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1248 LRB098 22294 GRL 61214 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church is the first national black denomination in the country; it was founded by a former slave, activist, and abolitionist Richard Allen in Philadelphia in 1816 and other members who broke away from St. George's Methodist Church in protest of racial discrimination; and

WHEREAS, The Trinity African Methodist Episcopal Church, founded in Waukegan in 1904, is Lake County's 2nd oldest black congregation; and

WHEREAS, Trinity AME Church was established by a small group of Christian men and women, including its first pastor, Reverend Harry Johnson; in 1913, the congregation built its first church at 541 Oak Street on Waukegan's South Side; and

WHEREAS, Forty-three years later, the burgeoning congregation held an estimated 600 families under the leadership of Reverend Robert Thomas, who administrated the new church building at the current location of 210 South Avenue; and

WHEREAS, Trinity AME Church is known as the birthplace of many churches in Lake County because numerous other churches, including Shiloh Baptist, Mount Zion Baptist, and Eternal Flame, as well as dozens of pastors, sprang from its membership; and

WHEREAS, The church served as a leader in the civil rights movement in Lake County; it was noted by longtime member and historian Barbara Gordon that, "There was a time when blacks couldn't go anywhere else to hold a meeting. This was the place that you could come to hold your meetings."; and

WHEREAS, Volunteers from the church help run a free weekly farmers market for neighborhood residents in the month of August, the same month that it holds CaresFest, an annual back-to-school event that includes a giveaway of up to 1,000 backpacks stuffed with various supplies; and

WHEREAS, Beginning in the 1970s, the church's community center provided social services to the neighborhood that included free meals, a food bank, counseling, and child care; the church was also known for its stirring and heavily attended annual Easter Pageant; and

WHEREAS, The church is active in outreach efforts by various church groups, which include support for orphanages in South Africa, other overseas missions, the adoption of a Hurricane Katrina family, student clothing drives for nearby Carman-Buckner School and residents at a battered women's shelter, HIV/AIDS awareness, recognition of aging veterans, Habitat for Humanity, visits to the sick and homebound, health and wellness activities, and much more; and

WHEREAS, Trinity AME Church's first female pastor, Reverend Janice Brazil Cummings, came to the church in November of 2012; she is known for her compassion, community outreach, and teaching on the abundant life; and

WHEREAS, The Trinity AME Church's 110th Year Anniversary theme is "Celebrating Our Past, Honoring the Present and Embracing our Future"; the church will celebrate the milestone on September 13, 2014; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the congregation of Trinity AME Church on the occasion of the church's 110th anniversary and wish the continued success and happiness in the future; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the Trinity AME Church as a symbol of our esteem and respect.