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Celebration Honors First ECC Church in Mississippi
MOUND BAYOU, MS (March 7, 2000) - A host of representatives from the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) and its ministries this weekend will be among those celebrating establishment of the first Covenant church in the state of Mississippi.
Walk of Faith Church, pastored by Darryl Johnson, was accepted into ECC membership during the 1999 Annual Meeting in Green Lake, Wisconsin. The Mississippi Covenant Celebration will kick off with a fellowship night led by Ed Carey, pastor of Palmetto Community Covenant Church in Miami, Florida.
Other keynote speakers include pastors Robert Owens of New Life Community Church, Atlanta, Georgia; Henry Greenidge of Irvington Covenant Church, Portland, Oregon; and Don Davenport of Community Covenant Church, Calumet Park, Illinois. Award-winning tour guide Milburn Crowe will conduct a bus tour of Mound Bayou, home to the oldest health center in the United States. Various departments of the ECC will conduct special workshops.
The affiliation of Walk of Faith Church with the ECC has received unanimous support. Johnson is excited about the partnership. "We preach grace, we preach acceptance," said Johnson, whose ministry has been an important part of Mound Bayou's development for nearly two decades. "We see that in the Covenant. There was a great (initial) hookup with the Covenant Church, the Christian Community Development Association and what I was doing," he continued.
Located between Memphis, Tennessee, and Vicksburg, Mississippi, Mound Bayou has a rich history since being founded in 1887 by former slaves. Two great-great-grandfathers of Johnson were among the town's early settlers. In its early years, the town was held up as a model for black economic development - President Theodore Roosevelt once called Mound Bayou "an object lesson full of hope..." for African-Americans.
However, unfortunate circumstances, including a drop in cotton prices, a devastating fire, and the Great Depression, left the all-black community in poverty. Eleven years ago the town was nearly $1 million in debt and its credit rating was so poor that the utility company turned off the streetlights.
The town is in financial recovery, thanks to efforts of many, including Johnson. He has pastored
Walk of Faith Church and its ministries since 1983, serving as a corrections officer and an owner and manager of three local businesses over the years. Already a strong presence in Mound Bayou, the church's recent emphasis in ministering to youth and families has been
integral to the quality of life in the town of 2,100.
"In this area, you've got a lot of teenage parents, a lot of unwed mothers, and drug and other substance abuse problems," Johnson observed. "A lot of the kids we minister to come from broken homes. We really believe the Lord spoke to us and told us we needed to change our ministry," he continued. "We had a traditional way of doing things, but we turned our focus to the
children. Once we started focusing on the kids, a lot of things happened. The church has grown - some Sundays we're just packed with kids."
Johnson realizes his work in Mississippi differs from some other Covenant churches. He expresses appreciation for the way in which the ECC has embraced diversity. Noting that the Mississippi Delta is one of the most segregated areas of the country, Johnson describes the ECC's commitment to racial reconciliation as a godsend.
"I saw different forms of worship at Covenant worship services, and I saw acceptance of people who were not like others in worship, in ministry, and in whoever they were," Johnson said. "It was okay for people to be people, that they didn't have to fit into a certain box," he continued. "I hadn't seen people attack racial situations like I did at the Midwinter Pastors Conference (in February in Chicago). When I saw that, I knew that there was something different."
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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