IL HR0965

Recognizes African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Day at the Illinois Capitol on April 18, 2018 and welcomes AME leaders and congregants from the Fourth District.

Acknowledges the AME Church's founding in 1787 through the Free African Society in Philadelphia by Richard Allen and Absalom Jones, with Bethel AME dedicated in 1794 as the oldest continuously-owned Black church property in America.

Notes the AME Church's expansion from the Northeast and Midwest to reach 400,000 members by the end of Reconstruction, particularly through rapid growth in the South following the Civil War.

States that the AME Church currently operates in 20 Episcopal Districts across 39 countries on five continents, administered by 21 active bishops and nine General Officers.

Identifies The Rt. Reverend John Franklin White as Presiding Bishop of the Fourth Episcopal District, supervising churches in Canada, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois, with his wife Mrs. Penny Hartsfield-White serving as Episcopal Supervisor.