Bill Text: SC S0483 | 2019-2020 | 123rd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Temple of Faith Bible Way Church
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-02-06 - Introduced and adopted [S0483 Detail]
Download: South_Carolina-2019-S0483-Introduced.html
A SENATE RESOLUTION
TO RECOGNIZE AND COMMEND THE PASTOR AND CONGREGATION OF TEMPLE OF FAITH BIBLE WAY CHURCH OF GADSDEN FOR FORTY YEARS OF SERVICE TO THEIR GOD AND THEIR COMMUNITY AND TO CELEBRATE WITH THEM THE CHURCH'S FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY.
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina Senate are pleased to learn that Temple of Faith Bible Way Church will celebrate four decades of ministry in Gadsden on Sunday, February 10, 2019; and
Whereas, founded in 1979 by Elder Theodore Myers and Sister Nan Myers, the church began with their five children and five charter members in a small, double-wide trailer refurbished as a sanctuary and set in the heart of a lower Richland County soybean field to be the first home of South Richland Bible Way Church; and
Whereas, on February 11, 1979, Elder Myers was installed as pastor, and during the cold winter, members were bolstered to endure the weather at the church by the prayers of charter members and other prayer warriors from the Bible Way Church of Atlas Road; and
Whereas, with the growth of the young congregation, Bishop Myers and the members began work on a new facility, and in 1980, less than one year after the first service, they broke ground on a new sanctuary. By 1981, the congregation moved into the new church with padded pews, central heating and air, and a seating capacity for twelve hundred; and
Whereas, in 1985, God gave Bishop Myers a vision for establishing a Christian school where children would receive a world-class, traditional education in a loving environment and where God was the head. The Good Shepherd Christian School program included nursery through twelfth grade located on Olympia Avenue under the auspices of South Richland Bible Way Church; and
Whereas, the first high school graduation was held in 1986, and the next year the school moved to Covenant Road where Central Carolina Christian Academy was born. Since it began, the school has educated more than five thousand children in reading, biology, mathematics, chemistry, computer science, and foreign languages, all in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; and
Whereas, in the early years as the congregation grew spiritually and numerically, its growing needs were met by developing many new programs, not the least of which was the Christian school; and
Whereas, in 1995, on the eve of the church's Sixteenth Church Anniversary Celebration, the entire Gadsden worship facility was burned, taking the life of a young man who worshipped there, and was counted among the many church burnings across the nation in the mid-1990s; and
Whereas, during the rebuilding, services were held in the chapel of the school, a space specially provided by God for that time until the long-awaited construction of a new worship facility in July 2000, at which time the church was renamed The Temple of Faith; and
Whereas, in 2004, the school was also moved to Gadsden and renamed Hope Academy and Career Development Center. Until 2018, Bishop Myers served as the school's director and helped to educate and nurture more than five thousand children "in the fear and admonition of the Lord," many of whom serve today as local and national leaders in business, industry, and government; and
Whereas, today the church sits on some eighty-six acres and recently purchased one hundred twenty-six acres about a half mile from the main campus. Both sites will be used for future development; and
Whereas, as the church celebrates its fortieth anniversary, the South Carolina Senate is grateful for God's divine guidance and love through all the joys and sorrows as they begin the next forty years of service to Him. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Senate:
That the members of the South Carolina Senate, by this resolution, recognize and commend the pastor and congregation of Temple of Faith Bible Way Church of Gadsden for forty years of service to their God and their community and celebrate with them the church's fortieth anniversary.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Bishop Theodore Myers.
