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TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR THE CONGREGATION OF MONTMORENCI FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH AT THE CELEBRATION OF THEIR SESQUICENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY AND TO CONGRATULATE THEM UPON THE JUBILANT AND MOMENTOUS OCCASION OF ONE HUNDRED FIFTY YEARS OF MINISTRY IN THE MONTMORENCI COMMUNITY.
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are pleased to learn that Montmorenci First Baptist Church will be celebrating a century and a half of joyful worship of and significant ministry for God in the Montmorenci community on October 18, 2020; and
Whereas, Montmorenci First Baptist Church was organized on December 19, 1870, with nine charter members who had left Darien Baptist Church in good standing with the recommendation and approval of Darien Baptist to start a church in Montmorenci; and
Whereas, the church's first pastor was Reverend John A. Seigler who was paid one hundred dollars a year, and less than a year after the church was constituted, forty-three new members were added to the church through the work of a month-long revival with services held twice a week; and
Whereas, the first acre of land was donated by J. J. Woodward in 1881, and in 1897, land was provided for the cemetery by Ramsey Toole and another acre later by Frampton Toole, Sr.; and
Whereas, in 1883, it was recorded that each member contributed five cents for missions, and in 1896 at the annual protracted meeting, another forty-three members were added to the congregation; and
Whereas, by the turn of the century, prayer meetings had been added to the church's services; and
Whereas, times were difficult for the church during The Great Depression, but individual members volunteered to make church repairs when they could, and lights were donated for the church; and
Whereas, in 1941, the church was remodeled and brick was added to adorn the church's edifice when Reverend J. R. Lawton was the pastor; and
Whereas, by 1943, Reverend J. Clarence Hughes delivered his first sermon as the congregation's first full-time pastor, and in 1945, a parsonage adjoining the sanctuary was built, the remaining loan for which was paid in full a year later; and
Whereas, the trustees of the Montmorenci School deeded the school's building to the church in 1949 for a recreational center, which later came to be used as an educational building; and
Whereas, throughout the 1950s, repairs and improvements to the church campus were made as needed, including plans for the construction of an educational addition with twelve new classrooms, a new baptistery, a basement fellowship hall, a new heating system, and two restrooms. An organ was installed in the church sanctuary in 1950; chimes were added as a memorial in 1951, and stained-glass windows were added in the 1960s; and
Whereas, the South Carolina House of Representatives joins in celebrating with First Baptist Church of Montmorenci upon a century and a half of ministry and worship, and the members wish the congregants many years of continued blessings. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize and honor the congregation of Montmorenci First Baptist Church at the celebration of their sesquicentennial anniversary and congratulate them upon the jubilant and momentous occasion of one hundred fifty years of ministry in the Montmorenci community.
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