South Carolina Baptist Ministries of Aging

I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. - John 10:10 The word abundant means exceedingly, very highly, beyond measure, more, a quantity so abundant as to be considerably more than what one would expect or anticipate. South Carolina Baptist Ministries for the Aging (SCBMA) is a Christian resource dedicated to helping South Carolinas seniors (55+) Live Abundantly by providing Christian retirement communities and assisted living facilities and connecting seniors and their families with resources to meet their needs where they are. The underpinnings of SCBMA began in 1954 when Dr. Percy Bethea donated 146 acres in Darlington County to be developed as a retirement home for retired pastors, missionaries, ministry families and lay persons who served the Lord. Bethea Baptist Retirement Community was opened in 1960. In 1985 Ms. Martha Franks, a retired Southern Baptist missionary to China, donated an antebellum estate in midtown Laurens, SC for the same purpose. The property included 50 acres with a small lake and developed into what is now known as Martha Franks Retirement Community. South Carolina Baptist Ministries of Aging continues to strive toward helping seniors thrive. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.