AME 7
Biography - Rev. Dr. Lavern Witherspoon
African Methodist Episcopal Church
Rev. Dr. Lavern Witherspoon is a native of Kingstree, South Carolina. He is the oldest son of Mrs. Harold Witherspoon and the late Rev. James W. Witherspoon, Jr.
Dr. Witherspoon began this Christian journey in ministry in 1973 in the Kingstree District Annual Conference of the Seventh Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Over the last forty-four years his pastoral appointments have covered the Seventh Episcopal District. He is the current pastor of Butler Chapel AMEC Church in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
Dr. Witherspoon received his Doctor of Ministry Degree from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC on May 12, 2014. He graduated from the U.S. Army Chaplain School and Center in Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey, in 1995. He received his Masters of Divinity from the Interdenominational Theological Center; Turner Theological Seminary, Atlanta, Georgia, in 1982. He obtained his B.A. degree from Baptist College in Charleston, South Carolina in 1976 (currently Charleston Southern University). He graduated from the South Carolina Alcohol and Drug School, in Clemson, South Carolina in 1989. He is also graduated in 1972 from Kingstree Senior High School, Kingstree, South Carolina.
Dr. Witherspoon’s Clinical Pastoral Education Training includes South Carolina State Hospital, South Carolina Department of Corrections, and The University Hospital of Augusta, Georgia, all approved by the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education.
Dr. Witherspoon served as an Army Reserve Chaplain for ten years. He served for four years as an Emergency Room and Critical Care Chaplain at Richland Memorial Hospital. He also served as a Chaplain and Instructor at Allen University. Dr. Witherspoon retired from the South Carolina Department of Corrections in 2018.
He is married to the former Julia Elaine Moton. They are the parents of two adult children, a daughter, Jacintha Dyan and a son, Andre’ Lavern.
Dr. Witherspoon also serves as The Right Worshipful Grand Chaplain for The Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons for the Jurisdiction of South Carolina. His affiliations include The Prince Hall Free and Accepted Masonic Family and The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. He is also a member of CC Johnson Consistory #136 and numerous other organizations.