Bill Text: SC S0709 | 2021-2022 | 124th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Rev. Dr. Azalee Rebekah Chaplin Bishop/Sympathy
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-03-30 - Introduced and adopted [S0709 Detail]
Download: South_Carolina-2021-S0709-Introduced.html
A SENATE RESOLUTION
TO EXPRESS THE PROFOUND SORROW OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA SENATE UPON THE PASSING OF REVEREND DR. AZALEE REBEKAH CHAPLIN BISHOP AND TO EXTEND THE DEEPEST SYMPATHY TO HER FAMILY AND MANY FRIENDS.
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina Senate were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Reverend Dr. Azalee Rebekah Chaplin Bishop on Monday, March 22, 2021, at the venerable age of eighty-two; and
Whereas, Dr. Bishop was born on January 13, 1939. She attended Gallman High School in Newberry and graduated with honors in 1956. She continued her education at Good Samaritan School of Nursing and Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, NC. With a lifetime thirst for knowledge, she completed graduate studies at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York; Caniusus College in Buffalo, New York; State University of New York in Buffalo, New York; and Pentecostal Overcoming Outreach School of Religion in Columbia. She was also able to earn her doctorate degree at Spirit and Truth Seminary in Richmond, Virginia; and
Whereas, throughout her life, Dr. Bishop had many pursuits and interests that she brought to fruition. She founded Grandma's House, an afterschool program for low-income, academically challenged youth in Columbia. She also worked to establish Grace Bible College and School of Divinity, which has become a place for learning and understanding for many national and international religious leaders. She was proud to take part in mission trips, including a life changing trip to Dakar in Senegal, Africa; and
Whereas, fortunate and blessed, Dr. Bishop married her childhood sweetheart, the late Bishop, Robert L. Bishop. They were together for forty-seven years of marriage and were gifted with six children and ten grandchildren to love and cherish; and
Whereas, Dr. Bishop served as an ordained minister of the gospel in the Gethsemane Baptist Association. Together with her late husband, they founded Grace Christian Ministries in Columbia. Providing a multi-faceted approach, their ministry proudly partners with Federal, State, and local community agencies such as Housing and Urban Development, the South Carolina State Solicitors Office, and the State of South Carolina Foster Parent Association; and
Whereas, as an active member of the communities where she's lived, Dr. Bishop had ties to the Buffalo New York Urban League, the United States Army multi-family and couple therapy consortium, was an executive board member of the Greater Columbia Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, was an instructor with the Empire State Baptist Educational Center in New York, worked with the National Baptist Educational Association, and was a board member of the Black Adoption Project in Columbia. In addition, she was chairperson of Christian Social Relations - Women's Missionary Society of the Seventh Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, was past chaplain of the Johnson C. Smith University Alumni chapter, was a life member of the state PTA, a lifetime member of the NAACP, and was a group leader for the Catawba synod of the Presbyterian Church; and
Whereas, a woman of profound faith and trust in the Lord, her motto was always Jeremiah 33:3, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." Rev. Dr. Azalee Rebekah Chaplin Bishop will be sincerely missed by all who had the privilege and pleasure of knowing her. The people of South Carolina were made better by her influence, and the community will feel the loss of her impactful presence. Now Therefore,
Be it resolved by the Senate:
That the members of the South Carolina Senate, by this resolution, express the profound sorrow of the South Carolina Senate upon the passing of Reverend Dr. Azalee Rebekah Chaplin Bishop and extend the deepest sympathy to her family and many friends.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Reverend Dr. Azalee Rebekah Chaplin Bishop.
