Local faith and civil rights leader celebrates 100th birthday

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Bishop Frederick C. James, faith and civil rights leader, is turning 100!

Bishop James, bishop of the Seventh Episcopal District of the AME Church, turns 100 Thursday, of Prosperity, making him the oldest living Methodist Bishop in the country, according to church officials.

“We are beyond a place of gratitude for the opportunity to celebrate Bishop James and this truly remarkable milestone birthday,” Bishop Samuel L. Green Sr., Presiding Bishop of the Seventh Episcopal District. “Bishop James has led an extraordinary life with tremendous impact in this state and across the country. We are grateful for Bishop James’ lifetime of service to the Lord.”

Bishop James graduated from Drayton Street High School. He received his A.A. degree from Bettis Junior College (Trenton, SC) and his B.A in History and English from Allen University (Columbia) in 1943. His masters in Divinity is from Howard University’s School of Divinity (Washington, DC).

Bishop James attended the inauguration of South African President Nelson Mandela in 1994, is a former White House Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and US State Dept.’s Advisory Board on Religious Freedom and is a member of the Greater Sumter Chamber of Commerce.

Bishop James also received the Order of the Palmetto in 2003 and the Leon A. Love Lifetime Achievement Award from the South Carolina African American Heritage Foundation and Columbia SC 63: Our Story Matters, and he has been inducted into the South Carolina Black Hall of Fame and the Columbia Housing Authority Wall of Fame, according to church officials.

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