Meet Our Donors
Reverend J. Elbert Williams
J. Elbert Williams, a native of Sumter, South Carolina, was born on June 26, 1955, to the late Rev. Frank E. Williams, Sr. and Mrs. Magnolia R. Williams. He has three siblings and is the proud father of four children: Torey, Zaleika, Natiya’ and Tiffany.
Rev. Williams came to Christ and was rooted in the Christian faith as a young boy growing up in the Rafting Creek Missionary Baptist Church (Rembert, SC) where he served faithfully for fourteen years as deacon of the Sumter and Columbia wards.
Rev. Williams is a 1973 graduate of Sumter High School (SC) and honorably served nine years in the US Marine Corps. He attended Strayer Business College (Washington, DC); he is a 1989 graduate of Gupton Jones College of Mortuary Science (Atlanta, GA); and he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in pastoral ministry in 2004 from Morris College (Sumter, SC). He earned his M.Div. degree in 2012 from Hood Theological Seminary (Salisbury, NC), and is currently enrolled in the doctoral program at Erskine Theological Seminary.
Rev. Williams is a provisional Elder of the South Carolina Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and is currently serving the Marion Parish of Bethel, Pleasant Grove, and Springville United Methodist churches.
He is a public servant and community activist, serving on numerous boards. He is a life member of the Sumter Branch of the NAACP; he serves on the Ethics Committee of the Tuomey Regional Medical Center (Sumter, SC); and he is a Prince Hall Mason, having earned the honorary and final 33rd degree in 2007. Rev. Williams is a licensed funeral director and embalmer with state and national board certifications. He is also owner and developer of Tiffany Gardens, a 20-acre residential subdivision in North Sumter, SC. His favorite quotation is “A man who uses force is afraid of reasoning.â€
Rev. Williams has endowed a scholarship in the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources in memory of his mother, the late Mrs. Magnolia R. Williams.