Regi Thackston has been an ordained pastor since 1961. He received a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1958 and served two years as a local pastor. He felt the call and attended seminary, graduating from Wofford College in 1961. Over the next 41 years, Thackston would serve as pastor to multiple United Methodist churches across South Carolina.
When Thackston retired from Trenholm Road UMC in Columbia, he and his wife, Yvonne, moved to Sumter to be closer to their grown children. Not long after he arrived, he was approached and offered the position as pastor for the Edwin Boyle Santee Summer Ministry, also fondly called “Boat Church.”
The idea intrigued Thackston, as he had pastored a boat church for the Athens Boat Club on Lake Lanier in Georgia while he was in seminary, something that was virtually unheard of at the time. He accepted the position, and this summer marks his 19th year with Boat Church.
Boat Church began approximately 50 years ago when a small group of members of a Methodist church in Sumter chose to begin meeting occasionally during their summer stays on Lake Marion. As their numbers grew, their church, Aldersgate UMC in Sumter, chose to take over the service, giving it a more structured form. The church continued under the auspices of Aldersgate, who provides printing, postage and incidental funding for mowing and upkeep of the property.
When attendance grew large enough, the service needed to move down a bit to an open grassy area, which was owned by Edwin Boyle at the time. Boyle signed an agreement with the church to allow services to continue there, and after his death, his sister continued the agreement. Her daughter now owns the land and also honors the agreement. However, earlier this year, she approached the Boat Church board and offered to sell them the land. Papers will be signed on June 8.
Over the years, the Aldersgate UMC hired summer associates to pastor the church, with a different pastor each summer. Eventually, Pastor Jeff Moyer decided to stay with the church for 15 years. When he retired, the church once again had short-term pastors until Thackston arrived.
“We are not a church,” said Thackston of the interdenominational gathering. “We look at our purpose as being a place of worship for people who are away from their home church on weekends and holidays. Our stated ministry is we exist to offer a worship opportunity and to support the missional causes of Clarendon and adjoining counties.”
Boat Church supports Epworth Children’s Home in Columbia, Crosswell Children’s Home in Sumter and United Ministries in Clarendon County. They also give to various groups such as Camp Bob Cooper.
“When we decided to purchase the property, the board said we would not take the money we give to missions to buy the property. We have to come up with different money,” said Thackston. He feels confident those who love Boat Church will support the purchase through offerings and he received several large offerings this past Sunday.
Thackston keeps his sermons short, setting himself a limit of 15 minutes. He has performed weddings on the site, and a Baptist church comes to perform a baptism ceremony once per year. Services are performed at 9:30 a.m. every Sunday from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend, no matter the weather.
“It’s a very popular place,” said Thackston. “It’s a very warm, pleasant, easy worship.” This past Sunday was the opening weekend for the season, and Boat Church drew 498 attendees with 70 boats. Services draw pontoons, speed boats, kayaks and rowing skulls, as well as cars and golf carts.
“It’s an opportunity for people, some of whom don’t have a church, to come to a very quiet, calm, peaceful, relaxed place. We acknowledge we all belong to God and we are trying to get in touch with God, and we do it in different ways,” said Thackston. Services are also broadcast 500 yards on 90.1 each Sunday morning.
His favorite thing about Boat Church is the people. “I just love people. They’re all good friends. They know me. I know most of them. The ones I don’t, I know who they are. They’re a child of God, and that makes them special,” said Thackston.
Thackston plans to remain with Boat Church for “as long as I have a pulse.”
