[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 87 (Thursday, May 23, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E668-E669]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          IN HONOR OF REVEREND DOCTOR EMMETT SCOTT ANITON, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 23, 2019

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor an 
outstanding Man of God, a devoted spiritual leader, and dear friend of 
longstanding, Rev. Dr. Emmett S. Aniton, Jr., who will be celebrating 
his 40th anniversary as the distinguished pastor of Friendship Baptist 
Church in Columbus, Georgia on Friday, May 24, 2019, at 6:30pm.
  Emmett Scott Aniton, Jr. was born on March 8, 1940, in Oneonta, 
Alabama to the union of Mr. Emmett Scott Aniton, Sr. and Mrs. Estella 
Aniton Woods. He attended Southside High School in Etowah County, 
Alabama, where he graduated in 1959, before earning his Bachelor of 
Theology degree from Selma University in 1964. He entered the United 
States Army and completed a tour of duty in Qui Nho'n, Vietnam, and 
returned home to Alabama where he matriculated at Alabama A&M 
University, earning Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology in 1971.
  After responding to God's call to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, 
Rev. Aniton pastored the First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Alabama 
from 1966 to March of 1979. For more than 12 years, Rev. Aniton was the 
shepherd at First Baptist where he ministered to the needs of his flock  
christening babies, baptizing believers, performing marriages, and 
consoling bereaved families, while developing and honing his skills as 
a church administrator and inspiring preacher.
  Then in November of 1978, the congregation of Friendship Baptist 
Church called and the Holy Spirit sent Rev. Aniton to Columbus, 
Georgia. His pastoral duties began in April of 1979 and he has 
faithfully and effectively served for over 40 years. Under Reverend 
Aniton's dynamic and spirit-filled leadership, the Friendship Baptist 
Church has experienced tremendous growth--spiritually, numerically, and 
in its physical facilities. But most importantly, under his leadership, 
Friendship has

[[Page E669]]

been a beacon of hope and salvation for the congregation through its 
many ministries which share the good news of our Lord and Savior, Jesus 
Christ.
  Yet, Madam Speaker, the outstanding servant leadership demonstrated 
by Rev. Aniton did not stop at Friendship Baptist Church. His impact 
has been felt in the larger community and beyond. He has served on the 
boards of the Pastoral Institute, the Liberty Theatre, the Metro 
Columbus Urban League, and the Fourth Street Towers. He has been 
President of the Mount Calvary Congress of Christian Education and the 
Muscogee County Clergy Association; instructor for the General 
Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia Congress of Christian 
Education and the American Baptist Theological Seminary (off-campus). 
He received the NAACP Religious Affairs Award, Rainbow PUSH Coalition 
Lifetime Achievement Award, the PUHL (Peace, Unity, Honesty, and 
Leadership) Award; and in May of 2011, received an Honorary Doctorate 
of Divinity Degree from St. Thomas Christian College in Jacksonville, 
Florida.
  Reverend Aniton has achieved much in his life, but none of it would 
have been possible without the Grace of God and the love and the 
support of his late wife, Mrs. Dorothy Rigby Aniton; his children, 
Minister Rhonda Aniton Bell, Emmett Scott Aniton Ill, and Keisha Aniton 
Simmons; his grandchildren and other family members. He is an 
outstanding mentor, a strong leader, and a faithful servant of God.
  On a personal note, I have been blessed by Rev. Aniton's sage counsel 
and enduring friendship over the four decades I have known him and I am 
proud to call him my friend.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join my wife, Vivian, and me, 
along with the 730,000 residents of Georgia's Second Congressional 
District, in congratulating Rev. Dr. Emmett S. Aniton, Jr. for 40 
outstanding years of leadership at Friendship Baptist Church, for over 
50 remarkable years of ministry, and for a lifetime of selfless service 
to God, the church, and to humankind. To God be the glory for the 
things He has done through His humble servant, Rev. Dr. Emmett S. 
Aniton, Jr.

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