First lady Jill Biden headed to West Columbia, SC Baptist church

First lady Jill Biden is heading to South Carolina Sunday afternoon to speak at the 50th work anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Charles Jackson at Brookland Baptist Church, a White House pool report said.

The event will start at 4 p.m., with the first lady speaking at 4:30.

The trip will mark Biden’s first return to the Palmetto State since she was on the campaign trail in 2020.

A pool report said Biden was seen wearing a caramel colored jacket and an aide was carrying a huge bouquet of what looked like red roses surrounded by a spray of white flowers.

Jackson has delivered a message to the Brookland Baptist congregation nearly every Sunday since in the 1970s.

He reached his 50th anniversary as Brookland Baptist’s pastor on Feb. 1.

In that half century, he’s helped build the church’s congregation into one of the Midlands’ largest. The church has a sprawling campus that stretches thousands of square feet. Its mountainous sanctuary rises near Sunset Boulevard, a prominent West Columbia thoroughfare. The church, which employs more than 160 people, has another location in northeast Columbia.

The church has become a political powerhouse over the years, becoming a regular stop for presidential hopefuls as recently as the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. And, over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, was a host site for vaccinations.

“God blessed the Brookland church and me with some of the best people of the Christian faith that you will find anywhere on the planet,” Jackson told The State in a February profile.

McClatchyDC reporter Francesca Chambers and The State reporter Travis Bland contributed to this report.