2009-2010 Bill 5099: St. Paul AME Church - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 118th Session, 2009-2010 3 4 H. 5099 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 House Resolution 9 Sponsors: Reps. Anderson, Agnew, Alexander, Allen, Allison, Anthony, Bales, Ballentine, Bannister, 10 Barfield, Battle, Bedingfield, Bingham, Bowen, Bowers, Brady, Branham, Brantley, G.A. Brown, 11 H.B. Brown, R.L. Brown, Cato, Chalk, Clemmons, Clyburn, CobbHunter, Cole, Cooper, Crawford, 12 Daning, Delleney, Dillard, Duncan, Edge, Erickson, Forrester, Frye, Funderburk, Gambrell, Gilliard, 13 Govan, Gunn, Haley, Hamilton, Hardwick, Harrell, Harrison, Hart, Harvin, Hayes, Hearn, Herbkersman, 14 Hiott, Hodges, Horne, Hosey, Howard, Huggins, Hutto, Jefferson, Jennings, Kelly, Kennedy, King, Kirsh, 15 Knight, Limehouse, Littlejohn, Loftis, Long, Lowe, Lucas, Mack, McEachern, McLeod, Merrill, Miller, 16 Millwood, Mitchell, D.C. Moss, V.S. Moss, Nanney, J.H. Neal, J.M. Neal, Neilson, Norman, Ott, Owens, 17 Parker, Parks, Pinson, E.H. Pitts, M.A. Pitts, Rice, Rutherford, Sandifer, Scott, Sellers, Simrill, Skelton, 18 D.C. Smith, G.M. Smith, G.R. Smith, J.E. Smith, J.R. Smith, Sottile, Spires, Stavrinakis, Stewart, 19 Stringer, Thompson, Toole, Umphlett, Vick, Viers, Weeks, Whipper, White, Whitmire, Williams, Willis, 20 Wylie, A.D. Young and T.R. Young 21 Document Path: l:\council\bills\rm\1340ab10.docx 22 23 Introduced in the House on June 15, 2010 24 Adopted by the House on June 15, 2010 25 26 Summary: St. Paul AME Church 27 28 29 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 30 31 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 32 6/15/2010 House Introduced and adopted HJ174 33 34 35 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 36 37 6/15/2010 38 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A HOUSE RESOLUTION 10 11 TO RECOGNIZE AND CONGRATULATE ST. PAUL AME 12 CHURCH OF GEORGETOWN ON THE OCCASION OF ITS 13 HISTORIC ONE HUNDRED THIRTYFIRST ANNIVERSARY, 14 AND TO COMMEND THE CHURCH FOR MORE THAN A 15 CENTURY AND A QUARTER OF SERVICE TO GOD AND 16 THE COMMUNITY. 17 18 Whereas, having been founded in 1879, St. Paul AME Church of 19 Georgetown will celebrate its historic one hundred thirtyfirst 20 anniversary in 2010; and 21 22 Whereas, more than one and a quarter centuries ago, St. Paul AME 23 Church of Georgetown was organized for the worship of Almighty 24 God. The congregation’s fiveacre property was purchased for 25 $20.00 on July 12, 1879, and Georgetown County Courthouse 26 records indicate the church deed was filed on November 1, 1879; 27 and 28 29 Whereas, at that time called Myersville AME, the church at some 30 point unnamed in its written history changed its name to St. Paul 31 AME Church. In its early days, Reverend Alexander Williams was 32 pastor. The congregation belonged to a circuit consisting of four 33 churches: St. Paul, Bethel, St. Mark, and Trinity. One pastor 34 served all four churches in the circuit; and 35 36 Whereas, in the early 1900s, the first pastor remembered was the 37 Reverend Mingo Thomas. His salary was paid with groceries, and 38 he lived in the parsonage on weekends. The children brought eggs 39 for the Sunday school offering, while the adults paid pennies; and 40 41 Whereas, from 1959 to 1969, the Reverend George Washington 42 was assigned to St. Paul AME Church as pastor. Acting on a

[5099] 2 1 Godgiven vision for the growth of the church, Reverend 2 Washington organized the Pulpit Aide Club and Emergency Club 3 and oversaw election of choristers for the Senior Choir and Youth 4 choir. In addition, under his leadership, the Missionary Society 5 became active, and church membership and participation on 6 various boards and clubs increased. The present church facility 7 was started in March 1965 and completed in May 1967, also under 8 his aegis. Finally, Reverend Washington and other area pastors 9 implemented the ecumenical jointfellowship services in the 10 community; and 11 12 Whereas, while St. Paul AME was enjoying the building up of its 13 programs and membership, its congregation welcomed the 14 members of St. Mark AME in a merger of resources; and 15 16 Whereas, in 1969, the wellbeloved Reverend Washington retired 17 from the pastorate. The years following saw various men of God 18 called as pastor and a number of improvements added to the 19 church’s facilities, as well as new programs added to its ministries; 20 and 21 22 Whereas, from 1985 to 1989, the Reverend Elmore Williams was 23 assigned as pastor to the St. Paul Circuit. Reverend Williams led 24 the effort to improve the appearance of the church by adding a 25 church steeple, cushioning for the pews, chandelier installation, 26 and the remodeling of the choir loft and dining area; and 27 28 Whereas, the St. Paul circuit was split in 1989, and St. Paul AME 29 became a station church; and 30 31 Whereas, in 1994, the members saw the need for an addition to the 32 church, a multifunctional facility that was completed in 1995 and 33 used for classrooms, office space, the pastor’s living area, 34 restrooms, and other purposes. Succeeding years brought still more 35 improvements, such as the purchase on March 13, 2009, of 36 twentyeight acres of property for further expansion; and 37 38 Whereas, standing on the faith and strength of its early pastors and 39 members, St. Paul AME Church’s present congregation “presses 40 toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ 41 Jesus” (Philippians 3:14), continuing to preach and teach the Word 42 of God; and 43

[5099] 3 1 Whereas, St. Paul AME Church has been a beacon of light and a 2 community worship center in the Georgetown area for one 3 hundred thirtyone years, and, God willing, will continue its godly 4 heritage in many more years of worship and service. Now, 5 therefore, 6 7 Be it resolved by the House of Representatives: 8 9 That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, 10 by this resolution, recognize and congratulate St. Paul AME 11 Church of Georgetown on the occasion of its historic one hundred 12 thirtyfirst anniversary, and commend the church for more than a 13 century and a quarter of service to God and the community. 14 15 Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be provided to 16 St. Paul AME’s present pastor, the Reverend Eugene Collins, Sr., 17 on behalf of the church. 18 XX 19

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