A house RESOLUTION

 

to recognize and honor Antioch AME Zion Church, to congratulate the pastor and members of the congregation upon the occasion of their two hundredth anniversary, and to wish them many years of continued ministry in their community.

 

Whereas, although records of the church's history were twice destroyed in home fires, Antioch African Methodist Episcopal Zion (A.M.E.Z.) Church has been registered for some one hundred sixty years. Some records are available in the Deed and Title Records in the Richland County Court House; and

 

Whereas, Antioch A.M.E.Z. Church is known to have changed from a pre-Civil War church where both colored and white people worshipped to a post-Civil War church for blacks only, and it has grown from a mission church to a circuit church and then to a station church. The church survived not only the Civil War, but also the Great Depression and many other social and technological changes; and

 

Whereas, Antioch was organized with sixty members between 1824 and 1838 by people from Logue's Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church, thought to be the first Methodist Church in Richland County four miles north of Antioch. Its first members were white and colored who built a log house and worshipped together, and after Emancipation, the church was given to the Negroes; and

 

Whereas, by 1866, the church was registered as an African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) church, and Reverend Thomas Mellichamp may have been the church's last white pastor in 1867. In records of 1871, Reverend Anderson Burns was listed as the pastor of Antioch and Kingsville churches, apparently the first Negro pastor of Antioch. By 1938, membership was fifty; and

 

Whereas, by 1936, records indicate that Antioch changed its affiliation from the A.M.E. Church to the A.M.E.Z. Church, which had likely occurred in the early 1900s, and since then has been an integral part of that work, hosting district and annual conferences until the 1950s and Sunday School Conventions until the 1970s. Prayer meeting and Sunday school were held every week but Sunday worship services every other Sunday until the 1960s when services began to be held every Sunday; and

 

Whereas, the land on which Antioch was first built was officially deeded to the church in 1955 by Alvin Bostic at three and a half acres to which Jack Craft added a half acre. After the first log house was torn down in 1874, another log house was built on the site, and a frame building was built around 1900 with a fireplace for heating. It was enlarged and renovated over the years, and by the 1940s the fireplace was replaced with wood burning heaters, and the first cement steps had 1946 written on them; and

 

Whereas, the congregation's first burial ground for members was about a mile and a half southwest of the church. Tombstones there show a burial as far back as 1869. The first parsonage was built in the 1950s, and another in the 1970s. In 1984, the church's frame structure was torn down, and the current, larger brick facility and fellowship hall were built with classrooms, a kitchen, and lounges; and

 

Whereas, choirs have been an integral part of Antioch's worship since it began. Without practice or training, the choir sang in the early 1900s, and the members, now called the Senior Choir, were taught to sing with notes. In the mid century, Professor Anderson taught the new Musical Choir to sing with the piano. A Junior Musical Choir was started and then a Gospel Choir for young adults, the latter of which teamed up with the Musical Choir to form the Antioch Mass Choir and has gained much acclaim nationally. The most recent choir is Antioch's Praise and Worship Choir; and

 

Whereas, the ministries of the Christian Education Department include Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and the Women's Ministry. Class Leaders and the Deaconess Board have helped to organize the church's ministries. Members participate in community events, help local shelters and food banks, and are involved with area nursing homes and the Alvin Glenn Detention Center. 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 Antioch A.M.E. Zion Church, congratulate the pastor and congregation upon the occasion of their two hundredth anniversary, and wish them many years of continued ministry in their community.

 

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Reverend Robert T. Benton.

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