After college I transferred my membership from Taylors First Baptist Church to Riverland Hills Baptist Church , which was then located off St. Andrews Road. Since then, the church has moved to a large campus right off Lake Murray Boulevard near Palmetto Parkridge Hospital.

For the past 20 years, the senior pastor has been Dr. Ed Carney and the church has experienced enormous growth in attendance and ministry in the community. Representative Denny Nielson joined Representative Huggins and me during the brief presentation from the House Floor last month. It was Dr. Carney who was one of the first pastors to see Rep. Nielson in the hospital years ago during her tragic car accident that almost took her life.

TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR DR. EDWARD MILTON CARNEY, PASTOR OF RIVERLAND HILLS BAPTIST CHURCH, FOR TWENTY YEARS OF FAITHFUL MINISTRY TO HIS CONGREGATION, AND TO WISH HIM MANY MORE YEARS OF SERVICE TO OUR LORD.

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are pleased to learn that Dr. Edward Milton Carney celebrated twenty years as senior pastor of Riverland Hills Baptist Church on June 15, 2011; and

Whereas, Dr. Carney earned an associate degree from what is now Anderson University and also earned a bachelor’s degree from Mars Hill College in North Carolina. Subsequently, he received a master of divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and a doctor of ministry degree from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisiana; and

Whereas, together with his beloved wife, the former Susan Godley, they reared two fine daughters, Erin Fennell and Brett Brown, and they have been blessed with three wonderful grandchildren: Jack Fennell, Avery Fennell, and Miles Fennell; and

Whereas, from 1978 to 1985, he served as a chaplain in the United States Naval Reserve, rising to the rank of lieutenant commander; and

Whereas, prior to coming to Riverland Hills, Pastor Carney served as the pastor of Second Baptist Church in Manning, First Baptist Church in Andrews, Highland Park Baptist Church in Hanahan, and Ashley River Baptist Church in Charleston; and

Whereas, since June 15, 1991, he has served Riverland Hills as the senior pastor when the membership was almost eighteen hundred persons, and today four and one-half thousand members call Riverland Hills Baptist their church home; and

Whereas, under Dr. Carney’s leadership, Riverland Hills moved its physical location in 2005 from a six-acre campus on St. Andrews Road in Columbia to its current sixty-one-acre campus in Irmo, and since then a new two-story educational building, a soccer field, baseball field, and a field house have been added to the church campus; and

Whereas, he has served as the president of the General Board of the South Carolina Baptist Convention and on numerous committees of the Convention; and

Whereas, Dr. Carney is not only the shepherd of his congregation, but a stalwart defender of the Christian faith; and

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are grateful for the twenty years of faithful ministry that Dr. Carney has given to the congregation of Riverland Hills Baptist Church, to his community, and to our God. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize and honor Dr. Edward Milton Carney, pastor of Riverland Hills Baptist Church, for twenty years of faithful ministry to his congregation, and wish him many more years of service to his Lord.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Dr. Edward Milton Carney.