BELVEDERE — The Rev. Heyward Horton has been a witness to quite a bit of history since he became the pastor of Friendship Baptist Church.
The congregation was established in a month when "The Sound of Music" was released in theaters; the "Bloody Sunday" clash occurred in Selma, Alabama, as a major moment in the civil rights movement; and Soviet cosmonaut Alexey Leonov became the first person to walk in space.
"His heart is set in that church," said North Augusta resident Gene Black, who has known Horton since their teenage years. "I mean, when he had both knees replaced, it didn't take him long before he was back out there on the tractor, cutting the grass, because he was kind of into it – working."
Robert Whitfield, owner of The Pot Smoker BBQ, a Belvedere restaurant, chose the word "vibrant" to describe Horton.
He added, "Cool dude. Just a dynamite guy ... How can you not look at the guy and be like, 'Dude, I just want to give you a hug. I love you.'"
Horton is on course to reach age 84 at the end of September, and he still fills the pulpit at Friendship Baptist on Sunday mornings along with serving in other church roles. The future minister was born "between Lyons and Vidalia, Georgia," and his family moved to Aiken County when he was 8.
"I thank God that I'm still in pretty good shape physically, and I'm still able to preach. I lost my wife four years ago. She went to be with the Lord," he said, recalling Warrenville native Jean Phillips Horton, with whom he shared 61 years of marriage and established a family tree that today includes two sons, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
"I count it a privilege ... to be able to still teach and preach the gospel. Friendship Baptist Church has been ... God's doing. I know it's very unusual to have a pastor be there, from the beginning, 56 years later, but it's the Lord's doing, and not mine," he said.
The church is highly mission-minded, with heavy emphasis on reaching out. Support for Israel is among Horton's points of heavy emphasis, as shown through trips the pastor took in 1994, 1998, 2014 and 2018.
"I've had the privilege ... to go to Israel four times," Horton said. "God gave me a love for Israel, through the study of the Bible and God knew I wanted to go, and He allowed me to go four times, and it's cost me very little money out of my pocket."
Friendship Baptist, he said, helps support Tennessee-based Project Nehemiah, an effort to help provide "food baskets, blankets and candy cheer baskets," not only for needy Israelis but also for new arrivals from such territory as the former Soviet Union, South America and Ethiopia.
Horton, looking back to 1965, noted that the congregation's first couple of meetings were held in the home of a church member a few yards from the current site, on Clearmont Drive. The next step was to buy an Army squad tent – 16 by 30 feet, for about 18 months, in his estimation.
Fort Gordon helped provide the next shelter, as the congregation moved into an Army barracks building that had its roots in World War II.
"We stayed in that for nine and a half years ... We literally had to take a garden hose and go in with soap and water in order to be able to use it," Horton recalled, pointing out that the Army's years of heating by coal had left plenty of residue.
The next step was into the building currently used as the church's fellowship hall. Adjustments large and small continued over the decades as the church settled into its current plot of 3.92 acres, offering everything from worship and education to a safe place for local softball teams to practice.
Horton, in the assessment of longtime friend Carol Bunch, consistently puts his time and talent into projects that he espouses at the church. "Pastor Horton is just one of those old-timey pastors that we used to have who, no matter what time of day or night we call, they're there, and he's still that way," she said.
"He's just a God-fearing man and loves the Lord and loves his congregation ... and would always take that extra step for anyone, whether it's a stranger or someone at the church."
He is, Bunch added, "a fantastic Bible teacher" with a particular fondness for exploring the Book of Revelation and engaging people in conversation.
"He's not old enough to be my daddy, but he's like a second daddy," she said. "He loves his family, loves God and loves Friendship."
