Serving Barnwell County and it's neighbors since 1852
Once a month at the end of the service is a raffle tradition to acknowledge members and reward them for their faithfulness. Antley told this little boy, who recently won, Jason Ellis Jr., “The favor of God is on his life.”
Pastor Antley, pictured here as a child, speaks at a service at his home church.
The congregation of Saint Mark Missionary Baptist Church raise their hands in praise during a service.
“My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.”
Psalm 139:15-16 NIV
Desimond Antley’s mother was two months pregnant with him when the late Pastor Julia Lincoln prophesied that she was going to birth a son who would grow up to be a preacher.
“Since I’ve been able to talk, all I’ve been known to do is to sing God’s praises and talk about God. So, it’s a natural thing that I was born to do. But, I got here by God’s design. I had no intentions to pastor,” Antley said.
Before he’d even turn 30, however, Pastor Lincoln’s prophetic words rang true. And recently, just as it’s been each Sunday since last July; Antley’s congregation, with barely an empty seat to be found, praised Jesus; then thanked this young pastor for his message as they departed Allendale’s own Saint Mark Missionary Baptist Church (SMMBC). On this particular Sunday, once the sanctuary emptied, the 27-year-old preacher sat in his office, excited to testify his remarkable story.
By the time he was six, Antley said his “mother and grandparents recognized God’s gift and encouraged me to preach. They pushed it. I also have a great mentor in the ministry, who nurtured the gift and helped bring it to where it is, Bishop Hayes Gainey. He’s been my pastor most of my life.”
Antley, an Orangeburg native and current resident, first came to SMMBC the third Sunday in July 2023 as a fill-in. “They were already in a candidacy process of choosing a pastor between two individuals. And it happened that neither one of the candidates could come to church that Sunday. One of them reached out to me that morning. Asked if I could fill in. I came, preached and the power of God literally fell. And honestly, the rest is history.”
It was just a month later, the fourth Saturday in August, when Antley was officially elected as SMMBC’s pastor with 95% of the congregation’s vote. A young man suddenly leading this church family God set before him.
His own family likewise “has been very supportive,” Antley said. “Since that first Sunday, every Sunday a family member has been here. Pushing, being a source of support. They have been very supportive. I love them. They are my world.”
Antley said it was very personal, through The Holy Spirit, that he “knew The Lord was training me up even as a little boy.” And now, given his position, he’s comfortable, publicly disclosing, “I don’t share this with everybody, but I’m glad to share it now.” Leaning forward, he revealed the moment he knew God was indeed calling him to serve. “I was sitting in the congregation at Edisto Fork UMC, my home church. Bishop Gainey was preaching that particular Sunday and this was the very first time I heard the audible voice of Jesus, of God in my ear. While Pastor Gainey was preaching, walking down the aisle, I literally looked at him, a light glared on him and the voice of God told me, ‘You’re going to be doing what he’s doing.’ At the age of six! It was an experience I could never forget to the point where, because I heard His voice, I went straight to him and asked, ‘Ya know, Bishop Gainey, when are you gonna let me preach?’ He was looking at this six-year-old boy like, ‘What are you talking about?’”
With such conviction at an early age, he said, “Even though I didn’t understand the depths of it. I knew that this is what God wanted me to do.”
Further signs of confirmation were to become evident. Antley began to realize his call to pastor SMMBC the very first Sunday he preached there.
“There was a little fella, I remember his name was Jermaine. He could be all of 10; 10 or 11. He did something that I used to do when I was a little boy. After church I’d have to go to the preacher and shake his hand. Jermaine did the same, and said, ‘You really inspire me.’ It touched me,” he recalled. “Then I was in a service in Barnwell about two to three weeks later, contemplating taking this position as pastor and I asked God to give me a sign. I was feeling my lowest because of some things I was going through. After the service was over, I was getting ready to leave early and I clearly heard the Lord tell me, ‘Wait until the end.’ So I stayed till the end of the service and when I was walking out of the front door, it was pouring down raining, and walks up this same little boy! He said, ‘Hey, you remember me?’ Surprised, I was like, ‘yeah.’ And as soon as I got in my car, I broke down in tears because God was so faithful to show a sign through a child.”
As a child, Pastor Desimond Antley was called; and through a child, God set his path of commitment in stone.
“While the Lord has me here, we’re going to do great things for the community of Allendale, the state of South Carolina, for the USA and the world. I believe while God has me planted here, it’s to do what the Bible says, ‘Go out into the world and make disciples for Jesus Christ’ and that is my obligation, my duty as pastor; to bring disciples to Jesus Christ,” Antley said.
“I want to be a pastor for the community, too. Like with our ‘Gas on God Outreach’. We give people $20 worth of gas. We reached about 110 people the last time we did it in November. We’re working on a major food drive in the community too. There’s a lot of new things that we’re doing.”
Yet the message God’s placed most strongly on his heart these days is, Transformation. “The Bible says in Romans 12:2, ‘Be not conformed to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.’ In order to be the light that Christ wants us to be in the world, we have to first be transformed in our mind. We cannot think like everybody else. And when you don’t think like the world, you don’t treat people like the world. You have the love of God in your heart, actions, your walk and your talk. I don’t care what you have done in your life. You’re still valuable enough to God for Him to put His hands on you and transform you. That is my message to the earth,” Pastor Antley said.
The community is invited to join SMMBC every Sunday at 11 a.m.
“Saint Mark is a place of healing and transformation,” he said. “The congregation has grown. What’s rewarding is, a lot of young people are joining which is probably my motivation for being here.”
Saint Mark Missionary Baptist Church is located at 557 St. Mark Road, Allendale. Contact the church at 803-584-4988.
