2015-2016 Bill 723: William L. Bonner - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 121st Session, 2015-2016 3 4 S. 723 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 Concurrent Resolution 9 Sponsors: Senators Scott, Jackson, Alexander, Allen, Bennett, Bright, Bryant, Campbell, Campsen, 10 Cleary, Coleman, Corbin, Courson, Cromer, Davis, Fair, Gregory, Grooms, Hayes, Hembree, Hutto, 11 Johnson, Kimpson, Leatherman, Lourie, Malloy, L. Martin, S. Martin, Massey, Matthews, McElveen, 12 Nicholson, O'Dell, Peeler, Pinckney, Rankin, Reese, Sabb, Setzler, Shealy, Sheheen, Thurmond, Turner, 13 Verdin, Williams and Young 14 Document Path: l:\council\bills\gm\24376sd15.docx 15 Companion/Similar bill(s): 659 16 17 Introduced in the Senate on April 28, 2015 18 Introduced in the House on April 28, 2015 19 Currently residing in the Senate 20 21 Summary: William L. Bonner 22 23 24 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 25 26 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 27 4/28/2015 Senate Introduced, adopted, sent to House ( Senate Journalpage 8) 28 4/28/2015 House Introduced, adopted, sent to Senate ( House Journalpage 142) 29 30 View the latest legislative information at the website 31 32 33 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 34 35 4/28/2015 36 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 10 11 TO CONVEY THE DEEPEST SORROW OF THE MEMBERS 12 OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY UPON 13 THE DEATH OF WILLIAM L. BONNER OF DETROIT, 14 MICHIGAN, CHIEF APOSTLE OF THE CHURCH OF OUR 15 LORD JESUS CHRIST OF THE APOSTOLIC FAITH, AND TO 16 OFFER THEIR SINCERE CONDOLENCES TO HIS LOVING 17 FAMILY AND HIS MANY FRIENDS. 18 19 Whereas, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly 20 were saddened to learn of the passing of Chief Apostle William L. 21 Bonner at the age of ninetythree on Friday, April 3, 2015; and 22 23 Whereas, born in Bolden County, Georgia, in 1921, Bishop 24 Bonner began his ministry in the 1940s under the guidance of the 25 founder of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic 26 Faith, the late Bishop Robert C. Lawson; and 27 28 Whereas, in preparation for his lifelong ministry, Bishop Bonner 29 received a doctor of divinity from the Church of Christ Bible 30 Institute in New York City; and 31 32 Whereas, as pastor of Green Avenue Church of Our Lord Jesus 33 Christ in Brooklyn, New York, he began serving the church, and at 34 the time of his death, he was still pastoring churches in Detroit, 35 Michigan; New York City; Washington, D. C.; Jackson, 36 Mississippi; and Columbia, South Carolina; and 37 38 Whereas, when Bishop Lawson died in 1961, Bishop Bonner 39 became the pastor of the assembly’s mother church, the Greater 40 Refuge Temple in Harlem, New York City, a congregation with 41 three thousand members; and 42

[723] 2 1 Whereas, Bishop Bonner founded the Refuge Temple of 2 Washington, D. C., in 1989, and broke ground for the Refuge 3 Temple of Columbia in 1993, which was organized with only 4 twentytwo members, but in three years, it had increased more than 5 thirtyfold; and 6 7 Whereas, also growing in scope, his ministry at the Refuge Temple 8 of Columbia expanded to include the church’s Family Life Center, 9 Retirement Community, and the W. L. Bonner Bible College; and 10 11 Whereas, the Churches of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic 12 Faith, an international body of one hundred and fiftyfive churches 13 in 1961, faithfully maintained the charge of their founder Bishop 14 Lawson to “Add thou to it”; and 15 16 Whereas, under the robust leadership of Bishop Bonner as the 17 chief apostle and senior prelate, the assembly has grown to over 18 five hundred churches and missions throughout the world; and 19 20 Whereas, he and his beloved wife, the late Ethel Mae Smith 21 Bonner, reared two outstanding children, William Lee Bonner, Jr., 22 and Ethel Mae Bonner Archer; and 23 24 Whereas, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly 25 appreciate the life and legacy of Bishop William L. Bonner and the 26 example of faith and resolve he demonstrated for all those who 27 would follow in his footsteps. Now, therefore, 28 29 Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives 30 concurring: 31 32 That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this 33 resolution, express their deepest sorrow upon the death of William 34 L. Bonner of Detroit, Michigan, Chief Apostle of the Church of 35 our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Church, and offer their 36 sincere condolences to his loving family and his many friends. 37 38 Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to 39 the family of Chief Apostle William L. Bonner. 40 XX 41

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