[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 55 (Thursday, April 16, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E526]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            IN RECOGNITION OF THE REVEREND JAMES R. EDWARDS

                                  _____
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 16, 2015

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor an 
outstanding Man of God who has been a longstanding source of 
inspiration, spiritual guidance, and moral leadership to the people of 
Southwest Georgia, the Reverend James R. Edwards. Rev. Edwards is 
retiring after pastoring the New Salem Missionary Baptist Church in 
Baconton, Georgia for almost twenty years. His friends, family, and 
church community will honor him at a celebration event on Saturday, 
April 18, 2015 in Camilla, Georgia.
  An Arkansas native, Rev. Edwards began his ministry at Wayland 
Baptist University in Plainview, Texas, where he earned degrees in 
Business Administration and Christian Education.
  From there, Rev. Edwards was drafted into the United States Marine 
Corps and began his active duty career on November 17, 1969 in Parris 
Island, South Carolina. He served our nation honorably for over thirty 
years both within the United States and overseas. He was promoted from 
private to warrant officer, and retired on May 31, 2000 with the rank 
of Major. He is decorated with the Navy Achievement Medal, the 
Meritorious Service Medal, and the Legion of Merit.
  Following his calling, Rev. Edwards dedicated a significant portion 
of his time to ministry while in the Marines and afterward. He was 
ordained a deacon at Christian Valley Missionary Baptist Church in 
North Chicago, Illinois in 1978. From November 1980 to June 1982, he 
served as deacon and Sunday School teacher at Marshall Chapel 
Missionary Baptist Church in Midway Park, North Carolina. He then 
served as deacon and president of brotherhood for Second Missionary 
Baptist Church in Oceanside, California. While at the City of Refuge 
Christian Church in Waipahu, Hawaii, he accepted his calling into the 
ministry, preaching his initial sermon on Thanksgiving Day in 1985. He 
was ordained at the Springfield Missionary Baptist Church in 
Hawkinsville, Georgia in April 1989.
  Rev. Edwards served as associate pastor at Mt. Carmel Missionary 
Baptist Church in Dale, South Carolina and Grace Christian Church in 
Kaneohe, Hawaii. He served as pastor at Camp Smith Chapel in Honolulu, 
Hawaii, New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church in Plainview, Texas, 
and Summerhill Missionary Baptist Church in Pelham, Georgia.
  The Second Congressional District of Georgia gained a compassionate 
and able leader when Rev. Edwards arrived in Albany, Georgia in 
September 1995. Throughout his pastoral career, always seeking to 
improve the craft of Christian ministry and discipleship, Rev. Edwards 
has served on numerous community boards, and as chairman of Faith 
Community Outreach and the Putney District Union; vice president of the 
Second District of the General Missionary Baptist Convention of 
Georgia, Inc.; president of the Mitchell County Ministerial Alliance 
and Baconton Community Group of Churches; chaplain at the Jimmy Autry 
State Prison; and CEO of the Southwest Georgia Community House of Hope. 
And even still, while being the lead member in all of these ministries 
and organizations, he was also a member of the NAACP, National Naval 
Officers Association, Montford Point Marine Association, American Red 
Cross, Southern Leadership Conference, Blacks in Government, and 
Leadership Albany.
  Mr. Speaker, Reverend Edwards is a man of integrity who exudes the 
genuine principles and values of Christian discipleship. A charismatic 
evangelical leader and pioneer, his spiritual zeal is both infectious 
and highly contagious. Under his leadership, New Salem Missionary 
Baptist Church has stood as a beacon of light in our community, serving 
as a voice for the voiceless and guide for the lost by spreading the 
ministry and the good news of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
  Along with his extensive church community, Rev. Edwards is surrounded 
by the love and support of his family--his wife, Ethel Louise 
Sheffield, and their five children, sixteen grandchildren, and one 
great-grandchild.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me today in thanking 
Reverend James R. Edwards for more than thirty years of dedicated 
service to our nation, twenty wonderful years of changing South Georgia 
for the better, and a lifetime of selfless service to God, the church 
and to humankind.