[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 50 (Thursday, March 22, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E362-E363]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   IN HONOR OF BISHOP ANN L. HARDMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 22, 2018

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart and 
solemn remembrance that I rise today to honor a dynamic woman of faith, 
dedicated wife, magnificent mother, loving grandmother, trailblazer, 
prolific author, skilled entrepreneur, public official, mentor to many 
and friend of longstanding to my wife Vivian and me, Bishop Ann 
Hardman. Sadly, Pastor Hardman passed away on Monday, March 19, 2018. A 
celebration of her life will be held on Saturday, March 24, 2018, at 
11:00 am at the Bill Heard Theatre inside the River Center for 
Performing Arts in Uptown Columbus, Georgia.
  Bishop Hardman was born in Asheville, North Carolina on March 30, 
1957. After graduating from Asheville High School, she earned her 
associates degree in secretarial and administrative studies from St. 
Genevieve of The Pines in Asheville, North Carolina; a degree in 
theology studies at Christian Life School of Theology in Columbus, 
Georgia; a doctorate from Kingdom Truth University in Jacksonville, 
Florida; and received honorary doctorates in theology/divinity from St. 
Thomas Christian College in Jacksonville, Florida and Beacon University 
in Columbus, Georgia.
  Bishop Hardman received many callings in her life, all of which were 
centered on helping people. She worked in customer service for more 
than 10 years as a Finance and Loan Officer at SouthTrust Bank, before 
becoming a Human Resources Clerk at Columbus Foundries, and a Financial 
Clerk at Pratt and Whitney.
  She received her most important and consequential calling as a 
minister of gospel when she was 16 years old because of the influence 
of the woman who raised her, her grandmother. Her journey led her to 
Fourth Street Baptist Church in Columbus, Georgia, where I first met 
her as members of the choir. She had to fight to preach the gospel 
because of unfortunate biases as it related to women in the pulpit. 
But, she powered through this to make her unforgettable mark on the 
ministry thus paving the way for other woman of the gospel to make 
their own marks.
  In 1993, she began her ministry in Columbus by preaching to a handful 
of people in her living room. With a vision from God, that handful of 
people morphed into the congregation of the Faith Worship Center 
International in Columbus and River of Life International in Asheville, 
North Carolina. But, her ministry could not be contained in just 
Columbus and Asheville as she also founded Ann Hardman Ministries, Inc. 
to expand her reach globally and

[[Page E363]]

touch thousands of souls through ministry. She was a humble and 
benevolent evangelist who trained countless others in service to God.
  In 2016, she received yet another calling as she was drafted by the 
people to run for the office of the Clerk of Superior Court of Muscogee 
County. And to no one's surprise, she was successful. She was well on 
her way to transforming the operations of the Superior Court serving in 
her first term.
  Former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm once said, ``If they don't give 
you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.'' Her motto was: I am 
because He is; I can because He did, and I will because He makes it 
possible.'' We are so blessed that Bishop Ann Hardman demanded her seat 
at the table and gave all of the glory to God as she carried out his 
purpose for her life.
  Bishop Hardman accomplished many things in her life but none of these 
would have been possible without the grace of God and the love and 
support of her husband, Bishop Norman Hardman; their children, their 
grandchildren, and the unheralded others who positively impacted her 
life.
  Mr. Speaker, my wife Vivian and I, along with the more than 730,000 
people in the Second Congressional District of Georgia would like to 
extend our deepest sympathies to Bishop Hardman's family and friends. I 
would also like to extend my condolences to the members of the Faith 
Worship Center International, Rivers of Life International, and the 
employees of the Muscogee County Superior Court Clerk's Office. May 
they all be consoled and comforted by their abiding faith and the Holy 
Spirit in the days, weeks and months ahead.

                          ____________________