Recognizing Reverend Dr. Emmett Scott Aniton

Floor Speech

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Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an outstanding mentor, dedicated servant leader, Vietnam War Veteran, faithful servant of God, and dear friend of longstanding, Reverend Dr. Emmett Scott Aniton, Jr. for over four decades of service to his congregation at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. A celebration of his 44th Anniversary at the Church will be held on April 2, 2023 in Columbus, Georgia.

Rev. Emmett Scott Aniton, Jr. was born on March 8, 1940, in Oneonta, Alabama to the union of Mr. Emmett Scott Aniton, Sr. and Mrs. Estella Aniton Woods. He graduated from Southside High School in Etowah County, Alabama and earned his Bachelor of Theology from Selma University in 1964. Shortly thereafter, Rev. Aniton answered his nation's call to service and entered the United States Army, completing a tour of duty in Qui Nho'n Vietnam. He then returned home to Alabama where he matriculated at Alabama A&M University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology.

After his service in Vietnam and earning his second college degree, Rev. Aniton first answered God's call to preach the Gospel by becoming the Pastor of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Alabama. There, he ministered to the needs of his congregation, christening infants, baptizing believers, performing marriages, and consoling bereaved families, all while developing and honing his skills as a church administrator and inspiring preacher.

In November of 1978, Rev. Aniton accepted the call to become the pastor of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, and he followed the Holy Spirit to Columbus, Georgia. His pastoral duties began in April of 1979 and he has faithfully and dutifully served for over four decades. Under Rev. Aniton's dynamic and spirit-filled leadership, Friendship Missionary Baptist Church has experienced tremendous growth-- spiritually, numerically, and in its building facilities.

Rev. Aniton's outstanding servant leadership did not stop at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church; his impact has been felt throughout the greater Columbus community and beyond. He has served on the boards of the Pastoral Institute, the Liberty Theatre, the Metro Columbus Urban League, and the Fourth Street Towers. He has served as the President of the Mount Calvary Congress of Christian Education and the Muscogee County Clergy Association; instructor for the General Missionary Baptist Convention, Georgia Congress of Christian Education, and the American Baptist Theological Seminary.

Sir Winston Churchill once said, ``You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give.'' Rev. Emmett Scott Aniton has given of himself over forty years of dedicated service to the glory of God and to his faithful congregation.

Rev. Emmett Scott Aniton has received numerous awards, such as the NAACP Religious Affairs Award, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition Lifetime Achievement Award, the Peace, Unity, Honesty, and Leadership Award; and in May of 2021, received an Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree from St. Thomas Christian College in Jacksonville, Florida.

Reverend Dr. Aniton has achieved so much in his life, but none of it would have been possible without the grace of God and love and support of his late wife, Mrs. Dorothy Rigby Aniton; his children, Minister Rhonda Aniton Bell, Emmett Scott Aniton III, and Keisha Aniton Simmons; his grandchildren and other family members.

On a personal note, I have been blessed by Rev. Aniton's sage counsel and advice over the four decades that I have known him, and I am proud to call him my friend.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues in the House of Representatives to join my wife, Vivian, and me; along with the more than 765,000 people of Georgia's Second Congressional District, in honoring and commending the Reverend Dr. Emmett Scott Aniton, Jr. for 44 years of dedicated service to Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. Moreover, we pray for God's continued blessings upon him and his family in the weeks, months and years ahead.

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