Special to The T&D

The Seventh District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, which encompasses the entire state of South Carolina, convened in Orangeburg for the sixth of its annual conferences, the Central Annual Conference, Oct. 8-12, at Williams Chapel AME Church.

The Central Conference is comprised of the Orangeburg, Manning and Wateree Districts. This 84th session makes it the youngest of six annual conferences held by the AME Church within the state of South Carolina. With 18 churches in Orangeburg, 23 in Manning and 22 in Wateree, the Central Conference contains approximately 25,000 AME members.

Thousands of AME clergy and delegates from across the state attended the conference, during which a variety of committees addressed issues including: The State of the Church and Country, Family Life, Christian Education, Temperance, Evangelism, Women's and Youth Ministries, Social Action and Prison and Hospital Ministries. The annual conference is where the entire AME Church body comes together to assess what has been accomplished the previous year, set goals for the upcoming year and refresh their souls in the spirit of God.

This conference was the final series of conferences for this quadrennial (2004-2008) before next summer's 2008 General Conference in St. Louis, Mo.

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