AL HJR864

Alabama Legislature welcomes the 37th General Conference of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church to Mobile from June 26 through July 4, 2010.

CME Church was organized on December 16, 1870, in Jackson, Tennessee, by 41 delegates from eight Colored Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, with bishops William H. Miles and Richard H. Vanderhorst elected as the first leaders.

In 1954, the CME Church approved a resolution to change its name from "Colored Methodist Episcopal" to "Christian Methodist Episcopal" to remove the racial designation.

This is the first time in the CME Church's 140-year history that the General Conference has been held in Mobile, hosted by the Fifth Episcopal District under Bishop Lawrence L. Reddick, III.

Two Alabama House members have significant roles in the CME Church: Representative Barbara Boyd serves on the Church's Judicial Council, and Representative Yvonne Kennedy serves as Chair of the Committee on Episcopacy.