2005-2006 Bill 5062: New Bethlehem AME Church of Charleston County - South Carolina Legislature

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 116th Session, 2005-2006 3 4 H. 5062 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 House Resolution 9 Sponsors: Reps. R. Brown, Agnew, Allen, Altman, Anderson, Anthony, Bailey, Bales, Ballentine, 10 Bannister, Barfield, Battle, Bingham, Bowers, Brady, Branham, Breeland, G. Brown, J. Brown, Cato, 11 Ceips, Chalk, Chellis, Clark, Clemmons, Clyburn, Coates, Cobb-Hunter, Coleman, Cooper, Cotty, 12 Dantzler, Davenport, Delleney, Duncan, Edge, Emory, Frye, Funderburk, Govan, Hagood, Haley, 13 Hamilton, Hardwick, Harrell, Harrison, Harvin, Haskins, Hayes, Herbkersman, J. Hines, M. Hines, 14 Hinson, Hiott, Hodges, Hosey, Howard, Huggins, Jefferson, Jennings, Kennedy, Kirsh, Leach, 15 Limehouse, Littlejohn, Loftis, Lucas, Mack, Mahaffey, Martin, McCraw, McGee, McLeod, Merrill, 16 Miller, Mitchell, Moody-Lawrence, J.H. Neal, J.M. Neal, Neilson, Norman, Ott, Owens, Parks, Perry, 17 Phillips, Pinson, E.H. Pitts, M.A. Pitts, Rhoad, Rice, Rivers, Rutherford, Sandifer, Scarborough, Scott, 18 Simrill, Sinclair, Skelton, D.C. Smith, F.N. Smith, G.M. Smith, G.R. Smith, J.E. Smith, J.R. Smith, 19 W.D. Smith, Stewart, Talley, Taylor, Thompson, Toole, Townsend, Tripp, Umphlett, Vaughn, Vick, 20 Viers, Walker, Weeks, Whipper, White, Whitmire, Witherspoon and Young 21 Document Path: l:\council\bills\agm\18431mm06.doc 22 23 Introduced in the House on April 27, 2006 24 Adopted by the House on April 27, 2006 25 26 Summary: New Bethlehem AME Church of Charleston County 27 28 29 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 30 31 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 32 4/27/2006 House Introduced and adopted HJ-2 33 34 35 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 36 37 4/27/2006 38 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A HOUSE RESOLUTION 10 11 TO RECOGNIZE THE RICH TRADITION OF RELIGIOUS 12 GUIDANCE OF GREATER NEW BETHLEHEM AME 13 CHURCH OF CHARLESTON COUNTY ON THE OCCASION 14 OF ITS ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-SIXTH ANNIVERSARY 15 AND THE DEDICATION OF THE NEWLY RENOVATED 16 FELLOWSHIP HALL. 17 18 Whereas, Greater New Bethlehem AME Church of Charleston 19 County celebrates its one hundred and thirty-sixth anniversary this 20 year and the members of the South Carolina House of 21 Representatives rejoice with the church’s members over this 22 momentous occasion and join them in spirit as they dedicate the 23 newly renovated Fellowship Hall; and 24 25 Whereas, Greater New Bethlehem AME Church was organized as 26 Bethlehem AME Church in 1870 on Wiltown Bluff by workers 27 who bought the land and worshipped in a bush tent at Cliffton Hill 28 before the church was built; and 29 30 Whereas, in 1872, the church joined the Edisto District Conference 31 with the Reverend Andrew Boston serving as Presiding Elder and 32 the Reverend Lester Flood serving as the minister. Other ministers 33 who have led the church throughout its storied history were the 34 Reverends Adam Deas, Ladson, G.W. Laxter, D.S. Chisolm, 35 Smalls, Turner, A.A. Washington, Freeman, Nero, and Wilson; 36 and 37 38 Whereas, the Reverend Matthew Brown became Pastor in July of 39 1953 and led the church’s building campaign, and on May 19, 40 1962, the ground breaking ceremony was held with the Reverend 41 Herbert Blake delivering the inspirational message “I Will Do My 42 Best – My Very Best”. It took twenty-eight months to build the

1 [5062] 1 1 New Bethlehem AME Church and the Reverend Matthew Brown 2 served this church for thirty-two years; and 3 4 Whereas, the Reverend Walter Jones came to the church in 1985 5 and sadly tragedy struck the community on January 10, 1986, 6 when the New Bethlehem AME Church was completely destroyed 7 by fire; and 8 9 Whereas, in large part due to the dedication and hard work of the 10 Reverend Frederick C. James, Presiding Bishop, and the Reverend 11 Z.L. Grady, and then Lieutenant Governor Mike Daniel in creating 12 a love fund to receive donations, on Sunday, June 19, 1988, the 13 members moved into Greater New Bethlehem AME Church. 14 Reverend Jones’ message was “The People Had a Mind to Work” 15 and that they certainly did; and 16 17 Whereas, paying off the mortgage in full in October of 1996, the 18 church celebrated the truly miraculous grace of our Lord and 19 Savior with an old-fashioned mortgage burning on Sunday, 20 February 23, 1997; and 21 22 Whereas, led by Reverend James Eric Nelson from October of 23 2004 to the present, the church continues today, after an incredible 24 one hundred thirty-six years, to be “THE CHURCH THAT 25 MAKES A DIFFERENCE”; and 26 27 Whereas, it is with great pleasure and gratitude that the South 28 Carolina House of Representatives pauses to acknowledge the 29 spiritual contributions, both past and present, of the Greater New 30 Bethlehem AME Church and wishes the church continued success 31 as it shapes the lives of generations of South Carolinians for the 32 Glory of God. Now, therefore, 33 34 Be it resolved by the House of Representatives: 35 36 That the members of the House of Representatives, by this 37 resolution, recognize the rich tradition of religious guidance of 38 Greater New Bethlehem AME Church of Charleston County on 39 the occasion of its One Hundred Thirty-sixth Anniversary. 40 41 Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to 42 Pastor James Eric Nelson on behalf of the congregation of

1 [5062] 2 1 believers at Greater New Bethlehem AME Church of Charleston 2 County. 3 ----XX---- 4

1 [5062] 3