A house RESOLUTION

 

TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR COLUMBIA EVANGELICAL CHURCH FOR ITS MISSION IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND TO CONGRATULATE PASTOR CALEB COLLINS AND THE CONGREGATION UPON THE SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF WORSHIP OF THEIR GOD AND MINISTRY LOCALLY AND AROUND THE WORLD.

 

Whereas, the House of Representatives is pleased to learn that Columbia Evangelical Church is celebrating its seventy-fifth anniversary from the fall of 2025, culminating on October 4, 2026, with worship services, a shared agape meal, and testimonies and reminiscences of the church's history; and

 

Whereas, in the fall of 1950, twenty-three believers formed a church concerned with community outreach and commitment to worldwide missions. Charter members were Charlotte Adolphson, Marie Bookter, Paul and Kathryn Brown, Joe and Marie Dannelly, Marie Deconynck, Harold and Ouida Eich, Sam and Frances Eisenback, Albion and Louise Holbrook, Woodrow and Peggy Hood, Lewis and Isabella Jones, Penny Lyon, Ray and Helen Shepherd, David and Roma Strebe, and W. G. Ward; and

 

Whereas, the nascent church, called The Gospel Fellowship Church, held its first meetings which included Sunday worship and Bible study, and the group began meeting on the second floor above a drugstore on Main Street, dubbed the Upper Room; and

 

Whereas, in 1961, the congregation changed its name to Columbia Evangelical (CE) Church and moved to a house on Pendleton Street on the edge of the University of South Carolina campus in 1962. The first missions conference was held in 1963, and a Faith Promise Missionary offering of sixteen hundred dollars, in addition to the regular missionary designations, totaling twenty-seven hundred dollars, was received; and

 

Whereas, by 1965, CE membership reached eighty-five, which necessitated two morning services and standing room only for Sunday evening services. By 1966, a new auditorium was built and dedicated for use on Barnwell Street, still in use today, and the first evangelistic services were held in 1969; and

 

Whereas, in 1974, property with a house were purchased for meetings and social events north of Columbia and used until 1976, and an Evangelism Explosion ministry was initiated in 1978. Construction of an education building was completed in 1982 between the auditorium and the Pendleton building which is on the historic registry. By 1983, two services were needed again to accommodate Sunday services in the auditorium, and in 1985, average Sunday school attendance was over two hundred fifty. The AWANA Clubs in the church had a high attendance of some hundred forty children. In 2020, a food pantry was established to help those in need; and

 

Whereas, the purchase of the Barnwell House was ready for occupancy in 1989. Built in 1895 by John Samuel Verner, it became the Columbia Grammar School for Boys established in 1901 by William H. Verner, the state's first Rhodes Scholar. It continued as the Columbia University School for Boys and relocated in 1908. Then Barnwell House was used as a private residence. In 1960, the property changed ownership, and CE purchased it from the South Carolina School Boards Association in 1985; and

 

Whereas, in 1991, CE Church voted to begin a mission church in the Chapin area under the name Lake Murray Evangelical Church and became a thriving independent church in 1995. Today it is pastored by a former member of CE who came through Sunday school and the AWANA program there; and

 

Whereas, CE has been taught and challenged to live for Christ under the following pastors: T. Gerald Wheatley, 1956-1970; F. Rhett Sanders, 1971-1975; Michael D. Eremic, 1976-1979; Jed N. Snyder, 1980-1995; David R. Kunz, 1996-2004; Dennis Newell (interim), 2004-2013; Michael Galdamez, 2013-2025, and Caleb Collins, 2026-present. The South Carolina House of Representatives is grateful for seventy-five years of faithful service of CE Church to God and to the community. 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 Columbia Evangelical Church and congratulate Pastor Caleb Collins and the congregation upon the seventy-fifth anniversary of worship of their God and ministry locally and around the world.

 

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Pastor Caleb Collins.

----XX----