MEET OUR PASTOR

The Reverend James Wesley Dennis III is the gifted, innovative, and anointed pastor of Pine Grove AME Church in Columbia, SC. A native of Brookhaven, Mississippi, Reverend Dennis is the youngest pastor in the church's 148-year history.

Pastor James earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia (2012), and a Master of Divinity degree from Vanderbilt University Divinity School in Nashville, Tennessee (2016). Additionally, Reverend Dennis earned a certificate in Black Church Studies from the Kelly Miller Smith Sr. Institute on Black Church Studies at Vanderbilt. Currently, Pastor James is completing a Doctorate of Ministry in Community Witness and Church Leadership from Candler School of Theology, Emory University.