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TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR THE REVEREND JOHN BLANEY PRIDGEN III UPON THE OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT AS RECTOR OF ST. MARY'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH AFTER MORE THAN FIFTEEN YEARS OF FAITHFUL SERVICE TO HIS CONGREGATION AND HIS GOD.
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are pleased to learn that the Reverend J. Blaney Pridgen III will soon begin a richly-deserved retirement from full-time pastoral ministry; and
Whereas, the son of a Presbyterian minister and a homemaker, Father Pridgen followed his father's footsteps into the Christian ministry, becoming an ordained minister in 1981 after graduating from seminary at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee; and
Whereas, during the years since his ordination, Father Pridgen has served three rectorships in program size churches at St. Andrew On-the-Sound Episcopal Church in Wilmington, North Carolina, The Church of Our Savior in Rock Hill, and most recently at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Columbia, where he has served for the past fifteen years; and
Whereas, not been limited to pastoral duties, Father Pridgen's vast service to the church has included service as vicar of two missions, chaplain of two parochial schools, and full and part time curate at both of the largest parishes in the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina. He successfully led three major building programs and four capital fund drives, was instrumental in establishing the largest Hispanic congregation in the Diocese, served on numerous Diocesan Conventions, and was a finalist in a Bishop's election in Kansas; and
Whereas, committed to community service, Father Pridgen has served on the board of visitors at the Kanuga Conference Center, the board of directors at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, the board of directors at York Place, as chaplain of York County Hospice, and as chaplain of the St. Andrew's Rotary Club, where he is also a Paul Harris Fellow; and
Whereas, an avid outdoorsman, he enjoys spending his limited free time hiking and kayaking; and
Whereas, in a life rich with God's blessings, Father Pridgen is especially blessed to share his life with his wife Helen, five children, and seven grandchildren; and
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are grateful for the legacy of ministry that the Reverend John Blaney Pridgen III has given to our State and wish him continued happiness and success in his retirement. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize and honor the Reverend John Blaney Pridgen III upon the occasion of his retirement as rector of St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Columbia after more than fifteen years of faithful service to his congregation and his God.
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