A house RESOLUTION

 

to recognize and honor Reverend Phillip Curtis Anderson, upon the occasion of his retirement after forty-five years of faithful service to the African Methodist Episcopal Church and to wish him continued success and happiness in all his future endeavors.

 

Whereas, it is altogether fitting and proper that the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives should pause in their deliberations to express their gratitude to Reverend Phillip Curtis Anderson for his significant contributions to the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church; and

 

Whereas, Phillip Anderson served in the United States Army from 1973 to 1976. Following his military service, he had a distinguished thirty-five-year career in law enforcement, serving with the South Carolina Department of Corrections from 1976 to 1977, the South Carolina Highway Patrol from 1977 to 1978, the Abbeville Police Department from 1978 to 1979, and the Greenwood Sheriff's Department from 1979 until 2011, when he retired as a Major; and

 

Whereas, his forty-five years of faithful ministry began in November 1981, when he was licensed to preach at Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Greenwood. Since then, Reverend Anderson has been blessed to serve numerous congregations across the State including, the Antioch AME and Mt. Pleasant AME Circuit in Clinton, the Fairview AME and Elzee AME Circuit in Clinton, and the Mt. Zion AME and Pine Grove AME Circuit in Hodges, where he successfully convinced both churches to become station churches, which was ratified at the 1986 Piedmont Annual Conference; and

 

Whereas, he furthered his devoted leadership at Mt. Carmel AME in Gray Court, where he built the first AME Family Life Center in South Carolina, and at St. Paul AME in Irmo in the Columbia Conference, where he initiated the construction of the current edifice. Reverend Anderson was then moved by Bishop Preston Williams to aid "a church in crisis," Bethel AME in Anderson, where he restored strength to the congregation and increased the membership tremendously. He then served at the Greater St. James AME in Summerville, in the South Carolina Conference, where he planned and initiated the construction of the current edifice; and

 

Whereas, in March 2016, Reverend Anderson was appointed as the presiding elder of the Wateree District in the Central Conference by Bishop Richard Norris, and in March 2018, he was asked by Bishop Samuel Green to go to the Beaufort District, where he successfully regained the trust of the pastors, calmed spirits, and rebuilt the morale of the district following a challenging period. Reverend Anderson joined the Abbeville-Greenwood District as the presiding elder in August 2024; and

 

Whereas, Reverend Anderson has been married to his beloved wife Sandra Aull Anderson for fifty-two years. Together they reared two sons, Andull and Antonio. They are the proud grandparents to three grandchildren: Eboni, Jordan, and AJ; and

 

Whereas, Reverend Anderson has spent his entire life as a servant toward humanity, thirty-five years in law enforcement and forty-five years preaching the good news of Jesus, ministering to the hopeless, caring for the sick and shut-in, providing food to the hungry, and speaking up for those who could not do so for themselves; and

 

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives take great pleasure in extending best wishes to Reverend Phillip Curtis Anderson as he transitions to a richly deserved retirement and the leisurely, unhurried pace of the days ahead. 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 Reverend Phillip Curtis Anderson, upon the occasion of his retirement after forty-five years of faithful service to the African Methodist Episcopal Church and wish him continued success and happiness in all his future endeavors.

 

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Reverend Phillip Curtis Anderson.

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