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