I was born in Mississippi during the Jim Crow Era. My Mom, Magnolia, moved us north when I was about 5 years old. Mother2, having grown up in church in her youth, was not a regular church goer as an adult, so I was not exposed much to religion. However, Grandmother and Great-Grandmother were devout members of their local rural church, Greenwood Chapel. It was an African-American Methodist church. My Great-Grandmother was a Sunday school teacher there for about 50 years. Consequently, when we visited Mississippi every summer, we stayed with her and my Grandmother, so each Sunday morning we knew where we were headed. We traveled to the church on the back of a wagon that was hitched to a couple of mules. From Great-Grandmother’s home to the church, it was roughly 2 miles on a dirt road. For me at a young age it was exciting and fun to go to the church and ride in the wagon. After church, the older folks would stand out in the churchyard and talk while we ran around and played with cousins and neighbors. Then, back home it was to one of Great-Grandmother and Grandmother’s spectacular southern, home-cooked meals. As I grew older, say early teens, I wondered where all the white people were at our church. I began to question why I heard from the pulpit all men are equal in God’s eyes, yet, when I asked about the separation of races, I learned the true story of what was behind the segregation that existed and why we were not worshiping together.
Once I graduated high school and left for the military, it would be a decade before I returned to Mississippi. During this period, I was stationed on opposite ends of the country or overseas, married, with a family of my own. Having joined the more newly integrated Armed Forces, it was still very much segregated during those years. My brother Walter served in Vietnam and I myself served stateside (as they did not allow two males from the same family to be in theater at the same time); we were aware that black men serving during this conflict were dying equally as our white brothers. Again, in my mind, I questioned why, if we are equal in God’s eyes, are we sacrificing our lives and still we did not have the same opportunities and why did races of people continue to worship separately even when they were dying together? Why are we equal, yet still so much apart? It would be from the years 1969 until 1983 that I explored and studied different religions, everything from Islam to Jehovah’s Witness, Baptist and others and never joined any of them. I was searching not only for myself, but also now for my children–a moral compass and home where I could rest, worship and be fed spiritually. I was also in search of that place to be with people who looked differently than me because in my mind I always went back to the fact that God said he created us in his image, that we were all loved and equal in his eyes. Now true enough, some of the religions I studied were all-inclusive with races, but their doctrine was not setting well with me. What they were teaching was not in keeping with what I heard as a young child or saw as an example set by Great-Grandmother and others.
It was at the end of this period of time I was introduced to the church by a friend of mine. I became a member, I became a priesthood holder and then I was endowed in the temple. The rest is history. Some things have not changed; I am still Black and I am still imperfect, but I have seen much growth and change not only in myself, but also in the church and its members since becoming a member myself 37 years ago. What I see is all good. It is a confirmation in my mind that I made the right decision all those years ago. Truly the statement, “Time is the great denominator” is 100% true. That longevity in anything will give you an opportunity to look back and see what is true and what is not, what is good and what is bad. What were the right decisions and what were the wrong ones. That this church has made me a better person, husband, father and grandfather myself by teaching me to not just love my religion, but to live it. I have learned also over these years, sometimes painfully, that like myself, I am imperfect as are other members of the church, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ is perfect and for this, I am grateful. I have learned we are all on a journey, growing both individually and collectively as a church.
I am truly happy that I found an all-inclusive place where I am accepted and loved and feel no less or any different than anyone else. Within this church, I have the same opportunities as anyone else, but moreover, in this gospel, I am equal in God’s eyes. I have learned to keep my eyes on Christ and his example and not be distracted by the actions of imperfect humans and their actions or what I see in the world. I have learned that I can only be responsible for myself, but at the same time, be an example to others and be the change this world needs. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.