The Rev. Robert Cox passes the mantle to the Rev. Mack McDowell. (Matt Brodie photo)
GREENVILLE – Thirty-seven retiring pastors accepted the gratitude of Bishop L. Jonathan Holston and delegates to the 2018 South Carolina Annual Conference on June 5 at the TD Convention Center in Greenville.
“Never think lightly of the great good that God has wrought through you,” Bishop Holston told the retiring clergy. “Continue to be true to your calling. May God’s love and power be with you always.”
During the ceremonial passing of the mantle, the Rev. Robert Cox, retiring pastor of Grace UMC in Greer, said: “I transfer this mantle from our generation to the young, indicating thereby that the responsibilities and dedication of the older generation will be caught up and carried on by the young, and spirit of today’s Elijahs will rest upon today’s Elishas.”
The Rev. James “Mack” McDowell, representing the latest class of full elders, accepted the symbolic gift, replying: “We who come after you take up the mantle which falls upon us. May we inherit a double share of your spirit.”
Retiring ministers recognized during the service were:
- David Leslie Anderson
- Mary Susan Ashworth
- William Henry Dawsey Bowser Jr.
- Jones Lester Brewer
- Ronald Lemuel Brewer
- Kenneth Ray Carter
- William Rutledge Childs
- Jacqueline Connelly
- Robert Lincoln Cox
- Alice Loving Deal
- Donna Stone Eidson
- Peggy Jean Garland
- Linda McDaniels Guthrie
- Paul Wesley Harmon
- Jerry Harrison Jr.
- John Wesley Hipp
- Rebecca Jean Huguley
- Mary Louise Johnson
- Richard DeWitt Lewis
- Wayne Robert Major Sr.
- James Douglas Marchant
- David Durell Marcy
- Terry Clifton Martin
- Larry David McCutcheon
- Maurice Earl Nason Jr.
- David Eugene Nichols
- Hughie Peterson Jr.
- Edgar Brookins Reynolds III
- Otis Scott Jr.
- Debra Alice Sylvia Quilling Smith
- Daniel Ray Smyth
- Donald Ray Studebaker
- Gerald Luther Truluck
- Stanley Edgar Weber Jr.
- Sandra Eslinger Whetsell
- Rufus Horace White
- Rebecca Allyne McPherson Wilkins
