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Jimmy and Dwaine Thomas were both baptized in the Columbia church in August of 1989. They have been married since December 1980 and have three boys who are faithful disciples. Marcus is a graduate of  the University of Florida with a masters in theater adn is now teaching in Columbia. Reggie is part of the new Clemson Foothills Church. Eric is a sophomore at USC. Jimmy is the son of Samuel and Relee Dubose Thomas and is one of 15 brothers and sisters (yes, we said 15). Jimmy moved to Columbia in 1974 and attended Midlands Technical College. Jimmy worked for the city of Columbia as an electrician/supervisor in the Traffic Engineering Division for 33 years. After retirement JImmy has worked part time taking care of our facility as Buidling Manager. Dwaine is the oldest of five children born to Deacon George and Annabelle Simmons Wright of Summerville, SC. She graduated from USC in 1979 with a B.S in nursing and is currently employed with Lexington Medical Center while pursuing her master in Nursing.

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Originally from Maryland, Paul lived many places growing up because his father was a career Navy man and moved every few years.  While attending  the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, Paul was baptized as a freshman in October of 1973. After graduating from UF in 1978, he served as Campus Minister for three years at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA.  He and Candy were married in May of 1980. Since that time Paul and Candy have served in many roles in churches in Kansas, Texas, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Georgia and New Jersey. After several years of being full time in the ministry, Paul began serving as a Financial Administrator, first for the church planting in Philadelphia, PA, followed by three years in the Atlanta Church of Christ and then right here in Columbia from 1992 until 2001. In 2001 Paul and Candy moved to work with the New York City Church of Christ where Paul was Director of Human Resources and Risk Management. Paul was appointed an elder in the New York Church in 2003.

Candy is from Temple, Texas. After graduating from Abilene Christian University with a degree in Special Education, Candy moved to Gainesville to be a part of the Crossroads church in 1975. Candy directed My School, a preschool day care center, for four years until her marriage to Paul in 1980. Candy worked several years as a campus women’s counselor at the University of Kansas and also Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. Since that time she has capably led children’s ministries for the Atlanta Church of Christ and the Columbia Church of Christ.  While in New Jersey Candy worked to establish a ministry for special needs children. She has also taught in various school systems through the years. Paul and Candy have three children and a son in law who are all disciples: Tricia, a graduate of NYU and the University of Miami graduate school and now attending Law School at FIU in Miami, Laura, a graduate of USC who married USC graduate Devin Olenick in July of 2008 and John, a graduate of Irmo High School. Laura and Devin also serve as interns for our campus ministry while Devin is attending graduate school at USC.

Paul serves as the administrator and chief financial officer of the Columbia Church of Christ. Candy formally re-joined the ministry staff in January of 2010 and together Paul and Candy lead the Northwest Region.  They love to help the less fortunate and in 1990 they began the Atlanta based adoption agency formerly known as HOPE for Children.  They adopted their son John from China in 1997 when he was eight years old.  After serving three years in the New York City church, Paul and Candy moved back to Columbia in 2004, in order to take care of Paul’s parents, who were experiencing age related health issues.  Paul was appointed an elder in the Columbia Church of Christ in April of 2007.

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Paul’s roots extend back to Omaha, Nebraska, being third in a family of 4 children from parents who celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2007.  After graduating from the University of Illinois with a BS of Accounting in 1976 he practiced as a CPA in Dallas, TX for 3 years.  Then he moved to Arkansas to establish a career in the heavy equipment industry as a distributor for John Deere and most recently with a Caterpillar distributor, Pioneer Machinery in Columbia, SC in 1990.  Paul met his wife Brenda in Little Rock, Arkansas and they married in 1981.  They greatly enjoy two children, Daniel, a 2007 graduate from the University of Georgia in Athens, who was recently lucky enough to marry Heather Viar from Charlotte, North Carolina.  Daniel and Heather live in Charleston where Daniel is continuing his medical education. And Stacey, a graduate of Irmo High School in Columbia., now attends Clemson University as part of the new Clemson Foothills Church.  Both children are disciples of Christ.  Paul and Brenda were baptized as disciples in Columbia in 1992.  Being young at heart and some days in body they love working with the Teen Ministry as well as serving throughout the church.  Paul and Brenda’s passion is working the Homeworks of America, involving teens in the repair of homes of the elderly on fixed incomes.