Manning church celebrates anniversary

Jason Wermers / The Item The Rev. Debra Quilling Smith, pastor of Manning United Methodist Church, greets parishioners as they leave after a special service on Sunday celebrating the church's 150th anniversary.

By JASON WERMERS
Item Staff Writer
jwermers@theitem.com

MANNING — Pastors and members past and present helped Manning United Methodist Church celebrate its 150th anniversary during a special service Sunday.

"The church has seen tremendous changes since its beginning in June of 1859," a statement on the back of a brochure handed out Sunday says. "However, the mission of the church remains the same in that we continually seek to know God's plan for this church as we serve him, our members and our community."

The Rev. Lemuel "Brother" Carter spent his teen years at the church after his family moved from Daytona Beach, Fla., to Manning in 1951. He graduated from Manning High School in 1956, but he credited the church with steering him off the path of becoming "just another juvenile delinquent."

"If anything touched me deeply in my life, it was the extended open arms of the people in this United Methodist Church to me and my relatives after we moved here," Carter said.

The church began when a group of people started meeting in 1857, just two years after the city of Manning was founded, in already-built churches and public meeting spaces. The group took on the name Clarendon District Bible Society in 1858 and was affiliated with the Methodist faith. By the following year, the group had built its own church on North Church Street and adopted the name Manning United Methodist Church, said Paul Floyd, the church historian and chairman of its 150th anniversary committee.

"It had a parsonage on Brooks Street that was utilized for visiting pastors," Floyd said, noting that Manning United Methodist was part of what was called the Santee Circuit at that time. "It was served by circuit riders at that time."

In 1879, the church became independent, meaning it had a full-time pastor assigned to it rather than a rotation of visiting preachers. The church that stands today on East Rigby Street was built in 1898 on North Church Street. It was moved to its current location in 1918 when the church leadership decided it wanted to be closer to downtown Manning.

Anna Paige DuRant's father, the Rev. Paul Betsill, was Manning United Methodist's pastor from 1966 to 1969. Betsill was in Palmetto Health Richland Sunday being treated for pneumonia, so DuRant spoke on his behalf.

"Here in Manning, I have had many firsts," DuRant said. "I got my driver's license. I forged a lifelong relationship with my best friend. I went on my first date. ... And I finally got my first father-daughter portrait. I figured he's in his 80s, so we'd better get that done soon."

The Rev. Dr. Steven Shugart, the church's pastor from 1993 through 1999, admitted that Manning wasn't exactly his top choice when he was looking for a church to lead.

Jason Wermers / The Item The Rev. Lemuel "Brother" Carter, who attended Manning United Methodist Church as a teenager and was sponsored by the church when he attended seminary, speaks during a special service on Sunday to celebrate the church's 150th anniversary.

"I didn't know what kind of life God had for me in this ordained calling," Shugart said. "I asked the district superintendent if there was anything in Columbia. When he said he would send me to Manning, South Carolina, I asked, 'How close to Columbia is that?'"

But Shugart got many nods and affirmative responses when he asked parishioners if they remembered some of the programs that were started or developed under his watch: Clarendon Habitat for Humanity (which holds its annual author lunch at the church) and "Disciple Bible studies," to name a couple.

"There were so many Disciple Bible studies, some of them met in the (Clarendon County) Chamber," Shugart said fondly.

The current pastor, the Rev. Debra Quilling Smith, said it was a blessing to be able to celebrate the church's 150th anniversary milestone on Pentecost Sunday, which is traditionally considered the birth of the Christian church. Pentecost, as recorded in the second chapter of the Book of Acts, is when the Apostle Peter gave what is considered to be the first Christian sermon proclaiming the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

"I pray today for our church, that we will be faithful to the God who created us, in spite of all the pressures and swirls of the world in our lives," said Smith, who has led Manning United Methodist since 2002. "Thank you, church, for the blessing you are. I pray for the church of tomorrow, even as our grandparents and great-great-great-grandparents before us prayed for us."

Floyd, 75, has been a member of the church for 45 years.

"To have a church have that kind of continuity means a lot," he said. "We've had such a strong church for so long."

In a farewell Floyd gave at a reception after the anniversary service, he issued a challenge, with tongue only partially implanted in cheek.

"I told them I expected to see all of them at our bicentennial in 2059," he said.

ON THE NET
Go to Manning United Methodist Church's Youth Ministry at http://web.ftc-i.net/~mumc/Youth.html

MANNING UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
The following are major years in the history of the church:

1855: City of Manning is founded.

1857: Group of people affiliated with the Methodist faith begin meeting at different churches and other buildings around Manning.

1858: Group adopts name "Clarendon District Bible Society" and retains Methodist affiliation.

1859: Group builds a church on Brooks Street, adopts the name "Manning United Methodist Church" and joins the South Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.

1879: Church gets its own minister after having been part of the Santee Circuit of rotating Methodist ministers for 20 years.

1898: New building is constructed on North Church Street.

1918: Building is moved to its current location on East Rigby Street between North Church and North Brooks streets.

1955: Major renovation adds to church campus.

1980s: Last major addition is made to the church.

2009: Church celebrates sesquicentennial.

Contact Staff Writer Jason Wermers at jwermers@theitem.com or (803) 774-1295.