ENROLLED Page 1 of 2 Regular Session, 2014 HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 91 BY REPRESENTATIVE HARRISON A RESOLUTION To designate Wednesday, April 23, 2014, as Union Bethel A.M.E. Church Day in the Louisiana House of Representatives. WHEREAS, the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church was founded by Richard Allen in 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a connectional church; and WHEREAS, the word "African" means that the church was organized by people of African descent and heritage; it does not mean that the church was founded in Africa or that it was for persons of African descent only; and WHEREAS, the A.M.E. Church's roots are of the family of Methodist churches; Methodism provides an orderly system of rules and regulations and places emphasis on a plain and simple gospel; and WHEREAS, "Episcopal" refers to the form of government under which the church operates; the chief executive and administrative officers of the African Methodist Episcopal denomination are the Bishops of the church; and WHEREAS, the A.M.E. Church has more than one million members scattered across the United States, Canada, South America, West Africa, South Africa, and the West Indies; and WHEREAS, the Union Bethel A.M.E. Church of Amelia, Louisiana, St. Mary Parish, was organized in 1865 and the church structure was rebuilt at its current location in 1902; and WHEREAS, the Union Bethel A.M.E. Church is located within the boundaries of the Eighth Episcopal District of the A.M.E. Church and within the Alexandria-Thibodaux Presiding Elder District. ENROLLEDHR NO. 91 Page 2 of 2 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby recognize Wednesday, April 23, 2014, as Union Bethel A.M.E. Church Day in the Louisiana House of Representatives. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this Resolution be presented to the Right Reverend Julius Harrison McAllister, Sr., Presiding Bishop of the Eighth Episcopal District, and Reverend Lloyd Washington, Presiding Elder of the Alexandria-Thibodaux District. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES