SUMMERTON -- The Seventh District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, which encompasses the entire state of South Carolina, will wrap up its sixth Central Annual Conference on Friday, Oct. 10, at Liberty Hill AME Church in Summerton. Dr. Charles Young, president of Allen University in Columbia, is Liberty Hill's pastor.

The Central Conference is comprised of the Orangeburg, Manning and Wateree Districts. This 85th session makes it the youngest of six annual conferences held by the AME Church in S.C. With 18 churches in Orangeburg, 23 in Manning and 22 in Wateree, the Central Conference contains approximately 25,000 members.

Thousands of AME leaders, clergy and laity from throughout the state attended this gathering, which began Monday, Oct. 6. Conference committees addressed issues such as 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. It is during the annual conference that the entire AME Church comes together to assess what has been accomplished during the previous year, set goals for the upcoming year and renew its soul in the Holy Spirit of God.

The international AME Church convened in St. Louis for the 48th session of its General Conference, held July 4-11. The General Conference is held every four years and is where all 20 international AME districts assemble their respective leadership, delegates, clergy and laity to attend to international church business, which includes new bishops elections and presiding bishops reassignments.

During the 2008 General Conference, Bishop Preston W. Williams II was reassigned to serve South Carolina for a second four-year term, and the Rev. Julius H. McAllister, pastor of Mount Zion AME Church in Florence, was consecrated as the 129th bishop of the AME Church.

"I am so thankful to God for having, four years ago, brought Dr. Williams and me to serve the great state of South Carolina," Williams said at the conference. "During my previous administration (2004-2008), the entire Seventh District AME Church, in partnership with numerous agencies and organizations, has worked diligently to uplift the physical and spiritual well-being of South Carolina's communities. We now stand at the beginning of a new quadrennial season, which brings opportunities to further the work which we have begun as well as explore new and exciting programs and partnerships that will benefit all of the citizens of South Carolina."

Special to The T&D

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