WHITE OAK – More than 2,000 people attended the grand opening of The Vision Center in White Oak on Saturday, Aug. 10. The sprawling 218-acre property, formerly the White Oak Conference Center, was purchased two-and-a-half years ago by the Seventh District of the A.M.E. church. It was previously owned by the South Carolina Baptist Convention.
The church has spent the last six months restoring the facility to its glory days, with more work to be done, according to A.M.E.’s Presiding Elder Charles Young, who has spent the better part of those months at the Center overseeing the work and making sure the project stayed on task.
With the first phase of the renovation completed, the Presiding Bishop of the Seventh District of the A.M.E. Church, Bishop Samuel L. Green, Sr., welcomed the day’s visitors to a worship service, a tour of the facilities, lunch and a ribbon cutting conducted by the Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce president Dillon Pullen and Fairfield County Councilwoman Peggy Swearingen. Claudia Avery, Deputy Superintendent of Academics in Fairfield County was also in attendance.
During the worship service, which was characterized as one of thanksgiving for and dedication of The Vision Center, Bishop Green thanked county and state representatives for their support of the Center. He also thanked Rep. Annie McDaniel for securing approximately $4 million in state funding toward the initial renovation efforts.
In a surprise presentation during the service, Bishop Green was awarded the Order of the Palmetto by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster who was represented by Rep. Carl Anderson.
The three-hour service included performances by the Voices of Bethel and a sermon by Bishop Frederick Allen Wright of the 20th Episcopal District.
Bishop Green explained that while much work has been done to restore the facilities, more work and more funding is necessary to complete the project. He reviewed the project’s expense for the audience.
“On this 218 acres, there are 22 classrooms, multiple buildings, three hotels with 144 rooms, an auditorium that holds over 900, a cafeteria that can seat 400, an Olympic size swim pool, two stocked recreation lakes, and much more,” Bishop Green said.
“It had been sitting here empty and unused for about four years when we purchased it, so there was some deterioration during that time,” Young told The Voice last spring. “Even though Phase I is completed,” he said, “we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”
The Phase I work consisted of replacing things like the HVAC, roofing and plumbing; upgrading the lighting and other fixtures, Young said.
“We also completed general cleanup of the buildings and property and painting,” Young said, “including working on the kitchen and dining hall. We also brought the buildings up to code and installed security and audio/video systems.”
Young said the campus will, basically, be used for the same things it was used for by the Baptist Conference – retreats, meetings, conferences, camps and training.
Phase II will commence sometime next year, and will include repairing and updating the four lodges on the grounds and the classrooms as well as the entrance to the lake, Young said. “We have a beautiful lake that will offer wonderful lake recreation and fishing.”
In addition, the roads and grounds need work as well as three houses on the property that will be used for management staff.
“It’s a big job,” Young said. ”The Seventh District has planned for years to have a Christ-centered ministry facility such as The Vision Center for its 20,000 members. However, we want it to not only serve our church, but to serve this community and other communities, churches, businesses and schools as well,” Young said. “We bought it with this broader use in mind.”
“We’re looking forward to the completion of the work,” Young said. “We think the Center will be well used by many different groups in the community and will be an asset to the county. We’re looking forward to that.”
For information about reserving the Center, contact Young at midlands1sed@gmail.com
