[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 199 (Wednesday, December 6, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H9668-H9669]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RECOGNIZING REVEREND STEVE HOGG

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
South Carolina (Mr. Norman) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. NORMAN. Mr. Speaker, it gives me a great deal of pleasure to rise 
and note the celebration that we will be having not only for the birth 
of Christ for the month of December, but on December 10, this coming 
Sunday, I will celebrate the First Baptist Church in Rock Hill, South 
Carolina, under the leadership of Reverend Steve Hogg.

                              {time}  1015

  Let me give you a little background on the church and on Reverend 
Hogg. Reverend Hogg was born on January 14, 1958, in Roxana, Kentucky. 
I think his birthday will signify his 60th in January. He married 
Monieca on March 27, 1982. They have two children, Steven and 
Jacqueline.
  The history of his service began in February of 1977 to November of 
1977, where he was bus minister of the First Baptist Church in 
Whitesburg, Kentucky. From there he went to the Summer Missionary, 
First Baptist Church, from 1977 to 1980 and 1983. He was pastor of the 
Colson Baptist Mission from November of 1977 to March of 1984.
  He then went and served as pastor of the Bethel Baptist Church from 
March of 1984 to December of 1987, where he began his ministry in the 
First Baptist Church in Rock Hill, South Carolina, in December of 1987.
  Let me just give you a couple of milestones for the church. First 
Baptist Church relocated in April of 2004 to an 84,000 square-foot 
phase 1 facility on 52 acres of land near I-77. Let me tell you, as a 
developer, we were involved in that area, and there were no shopping 
centers when the church moved out there. There were no hotels when the 
church moved there. There were no gas stations where the church moved. 
They literally moved out in an area of town on faith that this area was 
going to be where the church wanted to grow, and grow it has.
  The church budget has increased from $490,000 to $2,637,000. They 
have had over 1,500 baptisms. They sponsored the first African-American 
congregation for membership in the York

[[Page H9669]]

Baptist Association. They sponsored a second African-American 
congregation for membership in the York Baptist Association.
  Reverend Hogg has had a long and distinguished service to our State 
and country. He has served as president under the South Carolina 
Baptist Convention in 1993 to 1994. He served as the second vice 
president in 1992 to 1993. He has been chairman of the United Christian 
Baccalaureate Planning Committee. He has served on the executive 
committee of the Billy Graham Carolinas Crusade. He is a charter member 
of the city of Rock Hill No Room for Racism Board. He is the cofounder 
and State codirector of Changing South Carolina which led a movement to 
ban video poker.
  The activities of the church that he has started include many 
contemporary worship services, the intercessory prayer ministry, and a 
ministry for the deaf. He started the television broadcasts of morning 
services, and he has live-streaming of the worship services. He has 
conducted eight capital fund campaigns. I could go on and on.
  It has been such a pleasure seeing this church grow. I forgot to 
mention that when they decided to move to this new area of town, he 
didn't go with just a simple majority for the board of directors of the 
First Baptist Church. It had to be 80 percent or greater. How 
democratic is that?
  It has been said that to be successful, you must have three things. 
You must have a self worth living with, you must have a work worth 
living for, and you must have a faith worth living by. Reverend Hogg 
has demonstrated he has had a successful life, and he continues to have 
a successful life. Godspeed for the First Baptist Church in Rock Hill, 
South Carolina.

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