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A Blessing That Was Years in the Making

As so many of us do on New Year's Eve, I was taking time to reflect on the year. I thought about some of the highs and lows of 2024, and there was one thing that really stood out.  I was blessed with a great opportunity to do something I didn't think would ever happen. But as I thought about that wonderful experience, I realized that the beginning of that blessing started years ago.

In order to appreciate the fullness of what transpired, I need to refer back to 2018. April of that year, I was asked to speak at a program in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  My part in that program was to give a response to his book, Why We Can't Wait.  It was a response that I can unequivocally say was divinely imparted. For you see, as I was preparing the response, it came out in the form of a poem. Now mind you, I had never really written any poetry, so I was quite amazed. The poem is entitled, Do You Know Why We Can't Wait?  It addresses some of the points that Dr. King was making back then, while also highlighting some of the similar conditions of 2018.   

Now, fast forward to November 2024. Dr. King’s son, Martin Luther King III came to Williamsburg, VA to ring the Freedom Bell at The Historic First Baptist Church and to attend the Let Freedom Ring Foundation annual gala. It was at this time that one of the highs of my year happened. The Lord allowed me the opportunity to get to meet and give a copy of that poem and my book to Mr. King. I would not have ever thought that would happen.  It is amazing what God can and will do if we yield to His will. 

As for 2025 … I don't know what lies ahead.  However, I know my God, who can and does do exceedingly and abundantly above all I can ask or even think according to the power that works within me … I know, He is already there.  He will walk with us throughout the coming year and if we yield to his will, who knows, what we do in 2025 may be the beginning of a blessing that will multiply and cross over many years to come.

An Honor to Spread the Word

During the week of October 24th-30th, I was honored to accept two invitations to speak. The first, an invitation to participate in services with the Racine Wisconsin Fall Pastor’s Association. I thank the Association's President, Rev. Keith T. Evans, pastor of the Greater Mt. Eagle Baptist Church and Moderator Rev. Melvin Hargrove, Founder & Senior Pastor of ZOE Outreach Ministries, who represented the Wisconsin Pastor’s Association. It was a tremendous honor to preach on the topic of the Black church and to share passages from "The Black Church Relevant or Irrelevant in the 21st Century."

My second opportunity to share the word was with the members of the John Wesley United Methodist Church, in Greenville, South Carolina.  John Wesley UMC is the oldest historically black United Methodist Church in Greenville, South Carolina. My sincere thanks to  Rev. Dr. Daniel Hembree for his invitation to lecture and preach. I was honored that Rev. Hembree and his church members selected my book to be their primary focus for their 156th church celebration. The discussion regarding the Black church and the worship service was incredibly uplifting and inspiring. To God be the glory!

Living History - 2021

On this past sunny Tuesday afternoon standing on the church grounds talking to Sister Connie Harshaw and Brian Bailey, our Church Administrator, we were approached by a woman, Patrice Walker Powell, who said that she was told by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation to come to our church to bring her 93-year young mother in search of a photo of her father. The church building was still closed to visitors, but after she told us that she had traveled from Chester, Virginia to bring her mother who really, really wanted to see if the photo was on display in our church, we contacted our Chairman of the Trustees to get special permission for her to enter the building to see if we had such a photo. Once in the building she confirmed that the photo she was searching for hangs on the wall of our church in the glass display case and her beloved husband is shown on the immediate right side of Dr. King’s during his visit to our church in June 1962. His name is Reverend Wyatt T. Walker and at that time he was the Chief of Staff for Dr. King. There they both were, on the wall of our church in a photograph taken at our church during that historic visit.

Wyatt T. Walker (1929-2016) was a double graduate of Virginia Union University, He also held a doctorate from Rochester Theological Center. Reverend Walker, a prolific author was considered a leading authority on the music of the African-American religious experience. His first pulpit was at Gillfield Baptist Church in Petersburg. Later in New York’s Harlem community, he established a record of urban ministry as the pastor (for 37 years) of Canaan Baptist Church of Christ. He was a respected theologian, human rights activist and cultural historian. For several years, he served as Chief of Staff to Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. while both were with the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC) in Atlanta and later served as Special Assistant to Governor Nelson Rockefeller of NY, as an Urban Affairs Specialist. His human rights work and clerical leadership carried him to 100 countries."

His wife’s name is Mrs. Theresa Ann Walker and she was a freedom rider, arrested in Mississippi while fighting for our civil rights. She and her daughter are members of Gillfield Baptist Church in Petersburg, but wanted to make sure that she visited our church while in Williamsburg. Gillfield Baptist Church is the second-oldest black Baptist congregation in Petersburg, Virginia and one of the oldest in the nation. It was organized in 1797 as a separate, integrated congregation.