Reverend Joseph Frazier

Reverend Frazier is a retired Elder in the South Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.  He has given over 55 years in ministry to the United Methodist and African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina.  Please join us for this time of celebration.

Born on December 7, 1936, in Manning, South Carolina, The Reverend Joseph Frazier was the son of the late James and Lizzie Bell Frazier.  As a young child, his mother passed away.  After his mother’s death, he was reared by his stepmother, the late Lille Frazier, whom he adored and cared for until the day she died. 

He gained his spiritual grounding at the Society Hill AME Church in Manning, SC where he experienced God’s call to ordained ministry.  He felt that “stirring in his heart” to reach others, to enlighten, inspire, and motivate them to experience the joy and peace that comes through having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

A very industrious and ambitious man, Reverend Frazier was always busy doing the Master’s work.  He was an incredibly intellectually gifted man. He matriculated through the public schools of Clarendon County and graduated from the Manning Training School in 1956.  He attended Allen University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1961.  It was during his time at Allen where he served as a driver for the Reverend Eugene Adams, an Allen Trustee, NAACP President and civil rights pioneer in Columbia and father of the late Bishop John Hurst Adams.  It was his wife, Charity Nash Adams who would arrange a date between him and young coed, Carmella Arthur.  Very early on it was clear that “Connie”, as he affectionately called her, was a special kind of lady.  Five years later in November of 1963, she became his wife.  During their 50 years of marriage, they were like “two peas in a pod” – where you saw one, you always saw the other.  Anyone who knew him knew that he loved Connie and Connie loved him.  Their life as ministry partners gave them the impetus to walk, work and worship. In 2013, God called Connie from labor to rest.  Although his heart bled, we watched him proclaim, “that the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, BLESSED be the name of the Lord”. The love they shared served as an example to many.  Now the two lovers are “back together again”.

Rev. Frazier was not a stranger to hard work, which he learned from his father’s example, from his days of plowing the old mule, he worked diligently to care and provide for his family. Whatever his hands found to do, he did it with all his might and with the spirit of excellence. Prior to entering into full-time Ministry, he enjoyed a career as an insurance agent with United Insurance Company where he served over 20 years before his retirement.  At United Insurance it allowed him to gain further wisdom and insight into servanthood and submission to authority. He often shared that once he learned and applied the principle that service meant carrying out the vision of those you serve in the way that they expect, this quality often found him favor in his life. 

After graduating from Allen, Rev. Frazier continued his education at the Dickerson Theology Seminary in Decatur, Georgia where he earned a Bachelor of Divinity in 1963.  He was first licensed to preach in 1951 in the church of his birth, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, (AME).  He was ordained Deacon in the AME Church in 1956 and Elder in 1957.  He served congregations in the Seventh Episcopal District of the AME Church {the state of South Carolina} from 1953-70 including St. John AME, Winnsboro (1953), Taylor Chapel AME, Columbia (1957); St. Paul AME, Lancaster (1961); and St. Phillips AME, Eastover (1968).

In 1970, Rev. Frazier transferred from the AME Church to the United Methodist Church and would continue his education at Duke University, Durham, NC, where he completed the Course of Study in 1973.  He served as a Part-time local for 20 years; he would be accepted as an Associate Member in 1990 and an Elder in Full Connection in 1999.  He and Connie served faithfully in churches across the state including Wateree (1970); Wesley Chapel, Aiken (1975); Bluff Road UMC, Columbia (1985); Orangeburg Circuit, Orangeburg (1990); Jefferson Parish [Hopewell, Mt. Elon, Sandy Grove and Wesley Chapel], Chesterfield Co., where he would serve his last 14 years before retirement.  In 2007 with over 56 years of active ministry in the AME and UMC, Rev. Frazier would officially retire.  Although retired, he never stopped preaching. He was immediately asked to serve as a Retired Supply to the Lugoff Parish in 2007.  Rev. Frazier continued actively preaching in pulpits across the state assisting pastors and congregations whenever the opportunity presented itself.  His favorite passage of scripture not surprisingly is found in II Timothy 2:15: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,[a] a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” ESV

His greatest joy was serving God’s people. His faithfulness and loyalty to better the lives of those he touched are both noteworthy and to be applauded. He was a passionate, kind and resilient man that walked by faith and not by sight. His unwavering faith is what he taught and preached throughout his ministry.

Shortly after retirement, Rev. Frazier and Connie would affiliate with the I. DeQuincey Newman UMC, Columbia, SC.  Under the leadership of then senior pastor, the late Rev. Jack Washington, the I. DeQuincey Newman Church family would honor his years of service to the United Methodist Church by bestowing upon him the title of Pastor Emeritus.

Reverend Frazier was a man, a Pastor with a BIG heart and he related to people of every strata of society.  His ‘down-to-earth’, friendly and unassuming demeanor created an endearing personality that permitted him to be pastor, counselor, and friend to many.  His ministry was one of encouraging and witnessing to everyone he came in contact with.  So, whether you were the cashier at Burger King in the morning, where he ate breakfast daily or Captain D’s in the evening, he never missed an opportunity to make a friend. 

So it was on the evening of Wednesday, December 10, 2019, that he made his transition from earth to glory and received his eternal reward, as he took his last and final breath his last word was JESUS!  Yes, his over 55 years of preaching the Word of God came down to one word, JESUS!  So, we celebrate with the angels in heaven that Reverend Joseph Frasier has received rest from his labor and his reward is eternal life with ~ JESUS!

Reverend Frazier is preceded in death by the love of life, Mrs. Carmella “Connie” McArthur Frazier; his parents, the late James, and Lizzie Bell Frazier; his stepmother, Mrs. Lillie Frazier; six brothers, Murray, John, William, Adger, James, and Apostle Pickney Frazier;  one sister, Elouise Waiters.

Rev. Frazier now leaves behind a timeless legacy to be cherished his sisters and their family, Ada (Robert) Jones, Maggie Hannah, and Ruth Miles all of Buffalo, NY; his beloved and faithful nephew, Adger (Evangelist Shirley) Waiters of Greeleyville, SC; sisters-in-law, Rebecca Frazier of Buffalo, NY, Carlotta M. Young, Betty I. Bethea, Zonnie Mae (Dupree) Horne, and Shirley Wilkins, all of Spartanburg, SC, Ancie Tucker of Roebuck, SC and Joann (James) Maybin of Bossier City, LA; along with over three generations of nieces, nephews and a host of loving cousins, other relatives and friends too numerous to mention. 

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