South Carolina General Assembly
115th Session, 2003-2004

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Bill 878


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A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

EXPRESSING THE GRATITUDE OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO BISHOP HENRY ALLEN BELIN, JR., OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, FOR HIS DECADES OF SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP AND BEST WISHES FOR A LONG AND FRUITFUL RETIREMENT.

Whereas, Bishop Henry Allen Belin, Jr., currently serving the 7th Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, is retiring after twenty years as the 104th Bishop elected to serve the church; and

Whereas, this Louisiana native prepared for his spiritual career from an early age, earning both the Bachelor of Theology degree from Leland College and the M.S. degree from Lampton School of Religion; and

Whereas, he pastored, remodeled, and built churches in both the 8th and 13th Episcopal Districts, including Payne Chapel in Nashville, Tennessee, and served as a Presiding Elder in the 8th District; and

Whereas, before he was elevated to the bishopric, Bishop Belin was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the AME Church Sunday School Union at the 1972 General Conference in Dallas, Texas. During his tenure, he bought land and built the new million-dollar Publishing House Headquarters and remodeled the John Avery Apartments; and

Whereas, as publisher, he produced Cecil Cone's Identity Crisis in Black Theology; George Champion's Pastor's Manual, volumes I and II and Black Methodism's Basic Beliefs; George Sewell's Where Are You Going; Howard Gregg's The History of the AME Church; James Madison Granberry's The History of the AMEC Pension Department; and Robert H. Reid, Jr.'s Irony of Afro-American History; and

Whereas, in 1984, he finished that phase of his remarkable career when he published The AME Church Bicentennial Hymnal; and

Whereas, after his election as the 104th Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church at the 1984 General Conference, he presided over the 15th, 16th, 12th, and 3rd Episcopal Districts; and

Whereas, upon his retirement Bishop Belin looks forward to spending time with his wife Lucida Crawford Belin and their three children: Henry III, Toni LeNaye, and Roderick Dwayne. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring:

That the members of the General Assembly do hereby express their gratitude and their best wishes to Bishop Henry Allen Belin, Jr., of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, for his decades of spiritual leadership and best wishes for a long and fruitful retirement.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Bishop Belin.

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