SLS 23RS-1562 ORIGINAL
2023 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 83
BY SENATOR FIELDS
COMMENDATIONS. Commends Wesley United Methodist Church on the 157
th
Anniversary of its founding.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To commend and congratulate Wesley United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge on the
3 occasion of its 157th anniversary of its founding.
4 WHEREAS, in May of 1866, Mr. William D. Mann purchased a plot of land in a
5 historic section of Baton Rouge called Beauregard Town for the purpose of erecting a
6 church; and
7 WHEREAS, on this site, the original Wesley Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church
8 was built by the labor and efforts of the church's founders, becoming the first Methodist
9 church independent of a white church in Baton Rouge; and
10 WHEREAS, according to the East Baton Rouge Parish Library, Louisiana Genealogy
11 and History, in 1889, the basement of the church began its use by the Blundon School and
12 Orphanage to serve "impoverished colored children", educating children during the day and
13 adults at night, and thereby adding to its meaningful history; and
14 WHEREAS, in 1939, the church changed its name to Wesley Methodist Church and
15 continued to grow and thrive for the benefit of its membership as an important social
16 institution in south Baton Rouge; and
17 WHEREAS, although the church's original structure served the community for eighty
18 years enduring through fire, storms, and time, by 1966, the congregation had grown so large
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SLS 23RS-1562 ORIGINAL
1 that a new church had to be built; and
2 WHEREAS, the new church, built at the same location with most of the furnishings
3 acquired as gifts from members, features stained glass windows designed to be seen from
4 top to bottom and includes a pipe organ, the only African-American church in Baton Rouge
5 to have a pipe organ; and
6 WHEREAS, today the church is known as the Wesley United Methodist Church, is
7 honored with the service of more than fifty ministers, boasts a congregation that includes
8 more than fifty individuals with fifty or more years of membership, and maintains its rich
9 history of service to God and His Word; and
10 WHEREAS, lead by senior pastor Reverend Fredrick Sweetyne, Wesley United
11 Methodist Church will be celebrating its Founder's Day 2023, the157th Anniversary of its
12 founding on Sunday, May 21, 2023.
13 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
14 does hereby commend and congratulate Wesley United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge
15 on the occasion of the 157th anniversary of its founding.
16 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
17 Foundation Day committee member, Mr. Melvin C. Mitchell Sr.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Dawn Romero Watson.
DIGEST
SR 83 Original 2023 Regular Session Fields
Commends and congratulates Wesley United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge on the
occasion of the 157th anniversary of its founding.
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