The history of the historic New Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church of Lexington, South Carolina is preserved with the hope of inspiring our present and future congregations.  It is our prayer that they will preserve the ideas and dreams of those who labored for so long, enduring many hardships, while working in this area of the Lord's vineyard. Certainly, God has been our shield and strength. He has guided us with his counsel; blessed us by his providence and inspired us by his spirit.

     The New Bethel A.M.E Church was established in 1865 by a small, but faithful group of worshipers. They wanted to establish a permanent meeting place to worship. They contacted Mr. H. A. Meetz who graciously gave them the present site to erect a church and space for a burial ground.

Worshiping under a brush arbor, the word of God provided the light to guide their path and the love lo inspire fellowship. They soon were able to build a sanctuary.  We can imagine membership steadily increasing. They worshipped in this building for 25 years before it was destroyed by fire-During this time The Rev. J. S. Harper was the pastor; The Rev. T. E. Harper was Presiding Elder, and The Right Rev L. J. Coppin was the Presiding Bishop. During this administration, a new sanctuary was built and re-dedicated as, New Bethel A.M.E. Church.

In 1890 the land that this church was standing on was sold to the Lexington Manufacturing Company. The Trustees of New Bethel contacted the Superintendent of the factory and asked to buy this present site so that they could keep their church. The Lexington Manufacturing Company surveyed the land and deeded 1.8 acres to the New Bethel AME Church. The members of that hard-working Trustee Board were Brothers Abe Holmes, Adam Johnson, Toney Harris, Henry Strother, Isaac Jones, James Waring, Robert Hampton, and Millege Harris.

During our 154 years of existence, there have been many Presiding Elders to serve this District: Rev. T. E. Harper, Rev. George Johnson, Rev. G.K. Lyles, Rev. E. A. Adams, Rev. Ramsey, Rev. T. E. Addison, Rev. E. F. G. Dent, Rev. A. C. McClinton, Rev. Clark, Rev. J. Arthur Holmes, Rev. B. C. Cunningham, Rev. C. R. Hawthorne, Rev. Willie J. Nelson, Rev. William Smith, Rev. Sandy Drayton, and presently, Rev. Rosalyn Coleman.

The following ministers have served as pastors of New Bethel AME Church: Rev. J. S. Harper, Rev. T. A. Nelson, Rev. A. J. Johnson, Rev. Monday, Rev. N. A. Rice, Rev. L. A. Logan, Rev. James M. Williams, Rev. Bolden, Rev. J. W. Shaw, Rev. Samuel Johnson, Rev. W. T. Burgess, Rev. William David Chappelle, Rev. McGill, Rev. J. E. Dixon Rev. I. O. Simmons, Rev. A. A. Redding, Rev. O. C. Dunham, Rev. B. C. Cunningham, Rev. Hendricks, Rev. George Reid, Rev. J. W. Witherspoon, Rev. Carl C. Black, Rev. D. J. Ziegler, Rev. Johnny Yeadon, Rev. A. M. Bonner, Rev. Dr. Vincent Johnson, Rev. Orlando McCauley, Rev. Leroy Cannon, Rev. Sandy Drayton (interim), Rev. Vernon Dixon, and presently Rev Dr.  Elaine J. Eskew.

 The church was destroyed by a gas explosion on October 11, 1971. We were blessed by the people of the community and the local churches opened their doors in order for us to continue our worship services.  Through the years there has been continued growth, many improvements, and an abundance of accomplishments. We were able to move into the present sanctuary on October 14, 1973. The New Bethel family is most grateful to Rev. Johnny Yeadon for his spiritual guidance during this very unsettling time. He lit the torch that began blazing the trail.

Rev. A. M. Bonner came to us with dedicated leadership and kept the torch burning. He served our congregation for 18 years. There were many accomplishments during his tenure. On November l985, we were able to pay off the debt of our church and on n Saturday, June 21, 1986, we were able to burn the mortgage with thankful hearts for a job well done. Dr. and Mrs. Johnson donated a new marquee in front of the church.

 New Bethel Scholarship Foundation was established in 1998 through the foresight of Bro. Miguel Green who was a student at Clemson University at the time. It was Bro. Green’s vision that at least one deserving High School graduate from New Bethel receives some financial support from the church.

In 2004 Rev. Dr. McCauley also established the following ministries: Feed my Sheep, Health Awareness, Men's Forum, Women's Ministry, and the Youth Bible Study. On September 2006, the Reverend Leroy Cannon became our Pastor. During his leadership, we purchased the adjoining land. On March 5, 2010, Rev. Cannon retired. Presiding Elder Sandy Drayton became our interim pastor on March 7, 2010. The Rev. Vernon Dixon was assigned to us in September 2010.

 

    At the 2017 Columbia Annual Conference, under the leadership of Presiding Bishop Samuel L. Green Sr., New Bethel AME Church was appointed our first female pastor, the Rev. Dr. Elaine J. Eskew.  Under Rev. Eskew's leadership, we have been working diligently to be kingdom transformers, building up the kingdom of God in love and unity.  Rev. Eskew has overseen the liquidation of church debt.  We are currently working on a renovation project.   Rev. Eskew is working diligently at widening our social media ministry reach.   To God be the glory for all the wonderful things that have been accomplished. We are building on the past and looking forward to the future.

 

New Bethel AMEC Kingdom Transformers

Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.