[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5483]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  IN RECOGNITION OF ST. JAMES CHRISTIAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH'S 
                           155TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 17, 2013

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor and pleasure to 
extend my sincere congratulations to the congregation of St. James 
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Columbus, Georgia as the 
church's membership and leadership celebrates 155 years. The 
congregation of St. James CME Church will celebrate this significant 
anniversary with a series of events including Revival and a musical 
extravaganza and culminating in a morning Worship Service and afternoon 
Anniversary Celebration on Sunday, April 21, 2013 in Columbus, Georgia.
  This upcoming anniversary celebration will enable church members, 
local religious leaders, elected officials and other individuals 
throughout the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area to pay tribute to 
the members of St. James CME Church who have positively contributed to 
the spiritual maturation and personal development of those in the 
Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area and beyond.
  St. James CME Church traces its historical roots back to the 1800s 
when a group of dedicated Christian pioneers in Chattahoochee County, 
Georgia built with bushes and sticks a scant structure on land donated 
by white landowners. This structure was replaced by a log cabin built 
with wood also donated by the landowners. When the land was returned to 
the owners, the small congregation moved several times, ultimately 
settling on the present site where the first brick structure was built.
  In 1858, St. James CME Church was organized as a Negro congregation 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. It became St. James Colored 
Methodist Episcopal Church in 1870 in Jackson, Tennessee before the 
name ``Colored'' was changed to ``Christian'' at the 1954 General 
Conference. St. James received a donation of property in Chattahoochee 
County and remained there until 1918 before moving to Muscogee County, 
where it has had several locations. The first cornerstone at the 
present location, 380 Dawson Drive, later renamed Northstar Drive, was 
laid in 1936 with the Reverend I.D. Mitchell as Pastor and the Reverend 
S.A. Thomas as Presiding Elder.
  St. James Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, ``God's Glowing Star 
on Northstar,'' has been under the pastorate of the Reverend Leon C. 
Moore, Jr. since July 2012. The story of St. James, which began during 
a dark and divided time in our nation's history, is a truly inspiring 
one of the dedication and perseverance of a faithful congregation of 
people who put all their love and trust in the Lord.
  Mr. Speaker, today I ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute 
to the St. James Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Columbus, 
Georgia for their long history of coming together through the good and 
difficult times to praise and worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

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