Homecoming 2013 Parade Marshal is the Rev. Dr. Caesar Richburg
Nov 12, 2013
The Rev. Dr. Caesar R. Richburg, class of '72, will serve as Claflin University's Homecoming 2013 parade marshal.
The parade begins at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 16, at the entrance to Edisto Memorial Gardens, and continues down Russell Street to Magnolia Street and on to the Jonas T. Kennedy Health and Physical Education Center on the Claflin campus.
Dr. Richburg, a native of Sumter, is senior pastor of Williams Chapel AME Church in Orangeburg, where he has served since November 2006. Previously, Dr. Richburg served for 18 years as pastor at Allen Temple AME Church in Greenville.
Before entering the ministry, Dr. Richburg received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and biology from Claflin University and pursued graduate studies at the University of Missouri in Kansas City, Mo., where he obtained a master’s degree in administration. Other academic achievements include a Masters of Divinity degree in theology from Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Hood Theological Seminary in Salisbury, N.C.
Dr. Richburg has served as a commissioned officer in the United States Army, and was employed by Air Products and Chemicals Inc. in marketing and sales and served in Allentown, Pa., Kansas City, Mo., and South Carolina, where he served as sales and marketing manager for the state of South Carolina.
Dr. Richburg led the Allen Temple congregation in the construction of a state-of-the-art Community Development Center used to provide ministries, programs and services to the greater Greenville community. He also participated in successful initiatives in the areas of housing, community economic development, and supported partnerships and collaboration with various neighborhood associations in the Greenville community. Dr. Richburg served on the Board of Trustees for the Piedmont South Carolina Annual Conference of the AME Church, and has served as a delegate to the General Conference of the AME Church since 1992. Dr. Richburg also serves as dean of the Episcopal District (South Carolina) Board of Examiners, vice chairman of the Board of Examiners for the Central Annual Conference of the AME Church, and served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Conference. He has served as the co-chair of the Investiture Service for Bishop Preston Warren Williams II being elected, and investiture as a president of the Council of Bishops in the AME and as co-chair of Bishop Williams 50 Year in Ministry Celebration Banquet.
Dr. Richburg was selected as one of the 50 most influential people of 2006 in Greenville by Greenville Magazine. He is a member of the NAACP; he has served as the president of Rainbow Push Coalition (Greenville Chapter). Other distinguished memberships and achievements include member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., member of the Model County Initiative for the upcoming investment of Jafza International in Orangeburg County, member of the Board of Trustees of Allen University, member of the Board of Directors of Fellowship of Christian Athletics, member of Orangeburg Rotary Morning Club, member of the Board of Friends of Juvenile Justice (FJJ), founder of the Southern Midlands African American Family Reunion (Orangeburg, SC), vice chairman of the Board of the Martha Jean-Adams Heggins Foundation Institute, chairman of the Board of Orangeburg County Youth Council (a partnership with FJJ and United Way of the Midlands), past president of the Ministerial Alliance of Greenville and Vicinity, chairman of Greenville Technical College Multi Cultural Advisory Board, co-founder of the Greenville HBCU basketball and football classics, and the African American Upstate Family Reunion. Dr. Richburg was instrumental in pursuing MLK Holiday as an official holiday in Greenville County.
At Williams Chapel, Dr. Richburg is pursing ministry beyond the walls of the Chapel. He has organized the West End Riverside Community (Economic) Development Corporation to help position the community where Williams Chapel is located as a kingdom corridor, where affordable housing is made available and serves as chairman of the board. He is the co-founder and chairman of Nehemiah Ministries of Orangeburg County, a collaboration and partnership with other agencies and organizations to improve the quality of life of the citizens of Orangeburg in the areas of economic development, reentry programs and services of persons returning back to the community, senior housing, affordable housing, health disparity, youth and teen mentoring, and serves as a chaplain for the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office. Dr. Richburg also served as an adjunct professor at Claflin University. He is also a member and as of November 2012, was elected the chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Regional Medical Center of Orangeburg and Calhoun Counties.
In addition to serving as pastor of Allen Temple AME Church and Williams Chapel AME Church, Dr. Richburg also served as pastor at Benton Avenue AME Church in Springfield, Mo.; Friendship AME Church in Summerton; and Mount Lebanon AME Church in Due West.
Dr. Richburg is married to Ella Gadsden Richburg, originally of St. Stephen and a teacher for the Orangeburg District 5 School District. Dr. and Mrs. Richburg have three daughters: Felicia (Calvin), an elementary school teacher in Richland County School District 2 and a doctoral candidate at the University of South Carolina; Kendra (Kevin), a dentist and recent graduate of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn.; and Tiffany, a medical doctor and recent graduate of Meharry Medical College. They are the proud grandparents of Peyton Richburg Sellers.
Biographical information from http://www.williamschapelamechurch.org