The Man The Ministry. The Mission.

By Rev. Dr. Lee P. Washington

While at heart a lovingly written memoir, The Man, The Ministry, The Mission is meant as a foundational guide to enlighten pastors, church leaders, seminary students, youth pastors, laypersons engaged in leading and managing local congregations, as well as those seeking a mentor who has years of fruitful ministry and the sharing of best practice

• Language: English
• Publisher: Palmetto Publishing
• Release date: Nov 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781649904386

Rev. Dr. Lee P. Washington

Reverend Dr. Lee P. Washington is a retired senior pastor in the AME Church. He earned his BA at the University of Maryland, and received his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry from Howard University School of Divinity. He was the senior pastor of Reid Temple AME Church in Glenn Dale, Maryland, a congregation of over 15,000 members with two multi-site locations. There he built a 130,000 square foot worship complex, 250 senior housing units, and the Reid Temple Academy with 300 students. During his illustrious career, he has received numerous civic and academic awards. Reverend Dr. Washington is married with two sons. His previously published books include: Identifying conflict management strategies in a Black church, and, No Hidden Agenda: Becoming God's True Disciple.

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INTRODUCTION

D

uring the Annual Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, there is a day set aside for the service of sacrament and word. This day candidates for ministry present themselves for ordination. It is a high solemn, sacred, and celebratory moment in the lives of those who have passed required courses of ministerial training and present themselves for Christian service.

At the close of the service, an active layperson confronted me with a question. She had a daughter who was ordained an itinerant elder in the service. She had genuine concern in her voice for her daughter as she asked me, What practices should my daughter emulate to succeed in pastoral ministry? The mother directed the question to me because I served as chairperson of the board of examiners responsible for training today's clergy for tomorrow's pastoral assignments.

To succeed in pastoral ministry requires experience in the practice of ministry. Discerning and fulfilling the expectations of the laity is a significant concern for the one who is called pastor. In a climate of declining membership, shifting cultural values, conflict situations, social-action issues, it becomes easy for pastors to become disenchanted.

Pastors with healthy congregations who show competence in preaching, sensitivity to members’ needs, and generate enthusiasm around vision with spiritual authenticity are likely to succeed in ministry. Members of growing congregations who perceive their pastors as able to promote a spirit of unity and know how to foster teamwork within the membership recognize these leadership traits as determinative factors of fruitful ministry.

The problem for ordained and laity is how can both work towards fulfillment and performance of expectations that point pastor and congregation in the direction of greatness. To what extent can the pastor and church create a distinguishable model of ministry that is faithful, fruitful, and successful? Congregations are complicated gatherings of people who can be difficult to lead when facing change.

In this book, you will discover practical skills and insights in church management. You will learn how vision promotes growth within the ministry. Essential discussion on the topics of conflict management, church growth, preaching, and pastor self-care represents integral ingredients leading to a distinguishable model of fruitful ministry.

I served as Senior Pastor of Reid Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church for thirty-seven years. Facing insurmountable odds, I led the Reid AME Church congregation through a transition of relocation and a significant building construction program. The congregation presently is engaged in the construction of a 250-unit affordable apartment building for Seniors over sixty-five. The church was triumphant in purchasing 35 acres of land to construct a 120 thousand square foot worship complex. The membership grew from 80 active members to over 15,000 members with two multi-site locations.

I wrote this book because I wanted to share personal lessons gained that would assist pastors, church leaders, and others in undertaking productive ministry. As you read this book, you will learn from experiences, skills, and wisdom gained in pursuing a path forward building a model of ministry excellence. Pastoring engages in unique experiences. The Senior pastor manages and strives to overcome cultural challenges shared throughout the 15 chapters.

Reading this book will assist you in navigating the strenuous task of being a pastor-theologian, organizational administrator—visionary, preacher, builder, as of today's pastor in a changing world.

The beginning chapters one through three, Get Up and Back Home, highlight my early upbringing on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. These chapters underscore the influence of the family, church, and mentors, leading to my Call to Preach.

In chapters four through six, you witness The Reid Temple Story, 37 years as Senior Pastor of Reid Temple. Chapter five explains how the lack of balance between God, Church, family, and vision creates tension. Chapter six looks at coping with a Battle Scar and valuable lessons navigating through spiritual dissonance.

Chapter seven considers a discussion of Congregational Conflict and steps to resolve differences. Section eight, New Doors Open, leads to a conversation about the reorganization of ministry. Chapter nine embraces the crucial issue of Pastor: Do You Have a Therapist?

Chapter 10, Building Ministry, provides insight into establishing relevant ministries. Chapter 11, The Matter of Church Growth, offers helpful hints about church growth. Chapter 12 invites the reader to discern the importance of understanding the language of the sacred space as you Listen to the Building Speak.

Chapter 13 explores the theme of Preaching Matters, encouraging preachers to improve their preaching. The Changing Church in chapter 14 raises the awareness of the evolving church and technological developments in the church.

The final chapter of the book looks at my experience in transition into retirement A New Context and what constitutes finishing well.

CHAPTER 1

Get Up! Time For Work

(It is four a.m. Saturday morning, the temperature outside is

40 degrees Fahrenheit.)

G

et up! The two-word imperative sounded throughout the two-bedroom home in Grasonville, Maryland, where I was born. The words were from the unmistakable voice of my father. I would rather stay home on a Saturday and watch The Lone Ranger, Sergeant Preston, and his dog, Yukon King, Superman, or Lassie. It was clear once you heard those words, Get Up, you had to spring into action. There was no room for debate, discussion, or delay. I knew I had to get up, move quickly, and prepare to go to work with my father on an early, cold Saturday morning.

Get up! You are going to work with me. How I dreaded hearing those words. My father was a waterman. He made his living laboring on the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding tributaries. During September through April, my father harvested oysters. The months of May through August, he gathered crabs, dredged for soft-shelled clams, or as captain of his boat, Mary I named after my mother, he worked as a commercial fisherman taking parties on fishing excursions.

The life of a waterman is rigorous work, and it is back-breaking work. We left home before the sun was up, rode in my father's pick-up truck with the windows rolled down by his request. My father thought this would allow my body temperature to adjust to air temperature. I recall mornings when temperatures hovered just beyond freezing. Arriving at the worksite, we got into a smaller boat, manually paddled to the workboat, got in the workboat, started the engine, and proceeded to the location to begin catching whatever seafood was in season.

The average workboat was approximately 35 to 42 feet in length and about 20 feet wide. The small, enclosed area in the front of the boat was the cabin. I stored my lunch there. It was my favorite dwelling place because you could warm up. The workboat deadrise moved through the waters by a gasoline-burning engine typically taken from the wreck of an older automobile. The motor was mounted, enclosed, and covered by a rectangular box called the engine house. An exhaust pipe was attached to a tube, and muffler(s) pointed upward, or a horizontal pipe led to the rear of the boat extending out the back, allowing for expulsion of carbon monoxide. Tucked away in my memory, I can still hear sounds of the engine firing up and recall teardrops streaming from my eyes brought on by fumes from the engine's exhaust.

In those days, it was common for watermen to stand outside in all types of weather, using a stick with a rope or wire attached to a pulley system connected to the rudder to turn the boat to the left or right. If it rained, you put on rain gear; if it snowed, you layered up; if the wind blew hard, you stood there with your face in the wind.

Harvesting oysters required the waterman to stand on the narrow side of the boat (washboard) roughly three feet wide and skillfully work a set of tongs of a variable length corresponding with the depth of the water. Oyster tongs made from long slender shafts of wood with steel teeth attached at one end, allowed for an opening and closing motion to collect oysters on the bottom. Once the tongs were full, they were manually lifted vertically out of the water and flipped open on a horizontal board to begin the process of sorting the oysters. Oysters had to meet a three-inch size regulation, and if oysters had baby oysters, spats, they had to be removed and returned to the water bottom. Watermen performed this action until they reached their designated bushel limit. Once the day ended, the watermen sold their catch to the seafood house buyer.

Working on the water was the way of life for the men of the Grasonville community. Waterman handed down this skill from father to son. The occupation of waterman was an honest way to earn a living and provide for the family. It was profitable and kept a roof over our head, food on the table, and clothing on our backs. I am grateful for this early experience because it helped me to realize in the beginning: this would not be my occupation of choice. I was sure about it. My father knew it as well as others who watched me labor, trying to adapt to this way of life. It was not a good fit.

Work and Witness

Although I elected not to become a waterman, I gained valuable life lessons through this experience. I learned why it is so vital to work enthusiastically and to see labor as a means of witness. One of the most exceptional opportunities we may have to witness is to accept the responsibility to work. Work is the gospel that we live in today. The work ethic is a deeply held social value with biblical roots. It is the gasoline of the American dream of getting ahead, the sweat equity portion of homeownership.

We work for one of two reasons: The first reason is work provides for the necessities in life. Without work, most of us would not have clothing, shelter, or food. Work is necessary for our emotional wellbeing. If persons remain inactive all their lives and never engage in a responsible job, they will lack personal fulfillment in life. Secondly, most of us want to believe what we do in our work has something to do with or will contribute to the welfare of society. As Christians, we have a divine motive for work. Christians should work to please God. It is God's intention for us to be constructive and to make contributions to our families and the world in which we live.

A Christian Virtue of Work

The way of life on the water with my father helped me to embrace and celebrate the Christian virtue of work. The New Testament offers us a very subtle warning for the 21st century. Many have assumed that work is always a means of providing personal fulfillment, but work is also a means of providing service. It is when the Christian serves that work becomes fulfilling. The Christian goal of serving is a better choice than self-fulfillment. Ironically, fulfillment will never come without an attitude of service.

Lastly, I learned there is a difference between a profession, a craft, and a job. I went to work with my father because it was a job. A job is what you do to complete an assignment with the expectation of being paid. The primary objective of a job is to give satisfaction to whoever makes the assignment and pays the wage. Workers learn what is expected of us, and we do it. There is nothing wrong with doing jobs; to a lesser or greater degree, we all have them.

Professions and craft are different. In these two, we have an obligation beyond just pleasing someone. We are pursuing or shaping a deeper level than to do what someone asked us to do and receive a paycheck. We understand there is far more than pleasing the one who gave us the assignment; there is integrity with professions.

It would take years later for me to grasp and apply this as I moved within the realm of my profession in ministry. In ministry, one must continuously develop and perfect their craft. Craft and profession in ministry embrace the invisible reality of God's gifting birthed in the person God calls. Learning to preach would require me to seek helpful resources to enhance my craft of sermonic development to connect to the congregation as their Pastor.

Get Up!

Time For School

(It is 7:00 a.m. on a weekday.)

I

t is time for school. Unlike the call to get up to go to work with my father, I welcomed the urge to get up and get ready for school. My education began in the segregated schools of Queen Anne's County on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I emphasize segregated because, in 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Brown vs. Board of Education for school desegregation.¹

My education journey began the same year, 1954, as I enrolled in the first grade of the colored elementary school in Grasonville, Maryland. The newly constructed South County primarily accommodated colored children. The elementary school located close to my home allowed me to walk to school. Black elementary school teachers taught me. The elementary school classes covered the first through the sixth grade. Upon completion of the sixth grade, my test scores placed me at the top of the class. I passed on to secondary school.

Kennard High School in Centreville, Maryland, was the secondary school for colored students. I rode the yellow school bus from Grasonville to Centreville; the total distance was 20 miles round trip. Kennard, named after Lucretia Kennard, came to the Eastern Shore in 1903. Discouraged by the poor conditions of the African American schools, she toiled to create opportunities for all students by working for the local Boards of Education. By 1907, Ms. Kennard was the Supervisor of Colored Schools in Caroline County. Twelve years later, she attained the same position in Queen Anne's County. Within the job, Ms. Kennard recruited teachers, developed curricula, and set high goals for the students. She was instrumental in garnering community support for the schools, and during Ms. Kennard's tenure, every African American School had an active Parent-Teacher-Association.² Each one-room African American school had about 25 to 30 students. The textbooks used were cast-offs from the white schools, and there were never enough supplies. Further, African American high schools did not exist, nor did transportation, and some students walked up to five miles to get to school, regardless of the weather.

Although the Supreme Court ruled in favor of school desegregation, colored schools in Queen Anne's county continued functioning under the separate but equal clause. The black school was poorly funded and suffered compared to white schools. A black teacher's salary was not on par with white teachers. Educational facilities were kept immaculately clean. Comparatively, equipment and other resources of white schools surpassed black schools. I remember receiving books in class handed down, and on the first day of class, students spent time making erasures and replacing new covers.

When it came to athletic competition, the white schools had new uniforms with superior equipment. Their gymnasiums were much more extensive and modern. However, that did not help when it came to excellence, speed, and skill. Kennard's track, basketball, football, and all athletic contests triumphed with Kennard coming out on top.

Black high school teachers never lacked in quality instruction. My test scores during high school placed me at the top of the class. My class schedule included courses in algebra, geometry, English, biology, chemistry, trigonometry, and physics, to name a few. Kennard produced some of the sharpest minds in those classrooms. I made honor roll until I reached my junior year.

During my junior year of high school, I lost attentiveness in school. The other troubling uncertain reality was that I had no plans beyond graduation to do anything. There were students in my graduating class who were groomed and selected to go to college. I was not in the group. Maybe it had something to do with my lack of concentration or absence of focus. It took my father's GET UP call to draw me out of this lifelessness. My father asked me a very pointed question before graduation day: What are you planning to do? he asked. I was silent. Then my father answered the problem for me. You can go to work with me, or if you choose, you can further your education by continuing to go to school. The conversation ended with my father saying, I’ll give you two weeks to think about it.

Neither of my parents had graduated from high school, but both kept me following educational excellence despite the obstacles of race and class. The front doors of public establishments allowed whites, while any person of color, no matter how highly educated by law, entered the back door. My parents had the common sense and more smarts than most people to understand the value of education. Education to my parents was an important goal, which helped predict later outcomes in your career, work options, economic stability, and social opportunities.

As graduation day was fast approaching, I faced the question, What would I do with my life? Isn’t that a question philosophy ponders? What will come next? Honestly, I never gave this matter much thought until my father pressed me with his options. It did not take me long to figure out where I was going. What my father offered as a directive for my life changed the entire course of it. I told my father I was going to further my education and would relocate to Baltimore and stay with my aunt. I had settled the matter. I decided to attend Cortez Peter's Business College in Baltimore in the fall semester. My father said, Okay, I will pay your tuition. I packed up and left Grasonville, headed towards Baltimore in the fall of 1966.

The choice to continue my education would become one of the best decisions I could have ever made. Cortez Peters Business College was established by Cortez Peters Sr. in the depths of the Great Depression. The college taught typing, shorthand, bookkeeping, and other clerical skills. Cortez Peters Business College was one of the few black-owned private schools in the nation and offered young blacks an entrance into the white-collar world. Most baby boomers typing students today know of Cortez Peters Jr. as they learned to peck away at their classroom typewriters and now computers.

Living for the City

A boy is born in hard times in Mississippi

Surrounded by four walls that ain’t so pretty

His parents give him love and affection

To keep him strong moving in the right direction

Living just enough, just enough for the city.

His father works some days for fourteen hours

And you can bet he barely makes a dollar

His mother goes to scrub the floors for many

And you would best believe she hardly gets a penny

Living just enough, just enough for the city.³

These are the lyrics to the song written by Stevie Wonder of Motown. The words depicted my experience as I ventured towards transitioning from Grasonville to Baltimore.

Living in an urban city, going to school, assimilating into a new culture was stimulating. Baltimore City would offer me a unique social experience. What would people in the town think of me? Would they look down on me because I was from a backwoods country town called Grasonville? I had heard people say, You can take the country to the city, but you can’t take the country out of the person. I was a country boy, and there was this special admiration toward those who were city dwellers. I was facing so much uncertainty.

The guys in Baltimore dressed differently. The haircuts were unlike the way country boys wore their hair. Baltimoreans even talked differently. The young ladies’ hairstyles and clothing stood out from the country girls’ styles; the brothers were cool, and the sisters were fine and fly. I felt like an alien in another world living in the city, but it would not take me long to adapt. I studied the Baltimore walk. I immediately learned to speak with the Baltimore accent. For example, Baltimore is pronounced more like bald a more. The word carry is pronounced curry, and parents sounds more like purrents. Dog was pronounced like dug and frog as frug.

Leaving rural life and adjusting to the city required modification. The day-to-day stride was different. In the city, you get stuck in traffic, and there is a sense that speed impacts people to the degree they embrace this rapid pace of living. There were noises and sounds uncommon in the country. Sirens, bells, and gongs were going off every moment. The vibrations of transit buses, police vehicles whizzing by, and taxicabs constantly rolling day and night were so different. Opportunities were unlimited, so much to explore; what I would never find in my hometown was just a matter of identifying the location and getting there.

During this phase of life, I experienced a rebirth of learning. Matriculating at Cortez Peters, I made the Dean's list each semester. I excelled in every class and earned induction into the National Business Honor Society. By day, I was a serious student and by night, a party animal. I learned how to navigate the transit system to get around the city, and I was a regular at every social entertainment hot spot. Hanging out on the avenue, Pennsylvania avenue was one of my favorite past times. The Royal Theatre was where black performers starred. Although I lived in West Baltimore, I enjoyed the nightlife on the Eastside. If someone searched for me after hours, you could easily find me at any one of my favorite hotspots.

Life was thrilling, and I was enjoying each day and especially the night. Following the completion of my first semester at Cortez Peters, I could not wait to show my parents how well I was doing in college. I told my parents that tuition was due, and I would soon be starting my second semester. Little did I know I would get the shockwave of my life. My father said to me, It looks like you need to find a job.

I explained to him, I am a full-time student. I go to school during the day, so I could not go to work.

My father said, Well, it looks like you will be joining me on the water. What? Maybe he does not understand, or I did not do an excellent job in clarifying what I was trying to get him to understand. My father was unwavering in his response. Guess what? It did not take me long to find a job. I worked during the night at Montgomery Wards in the stockroom from 4:00 pm to 12:00 am. I caught the transit bus and arrived home around 1:00 am each morning.

I was working while attending school, and it had its benefits. The most obvious was the fact I was earning my own money. The new challenges helped me to develop a sense of independence to pay for rent, textbooks, clothing, and whatever else I needed or wanted. It also put me in a position to graduate without student debt. The downside of working and going to school was it stretched me thin to the point I had to balance both job and studies. Time management introduced itself to me. Nightlife ended abruptly. Fortunately, I caught on quickly to the course work and passed with excellent grades.

Stepping Up to Problems

Later, I grew to value my father's refusal to cover my tuition. The disappointment taught me that as a man, it is your responsibility to establish goals and to work hard to achieve them. I lived my first raw taste of what it meant to sacrifice. Have you heard the saying everything happens for a reason? Well, I was growing through the stage of developing adulthood. What I began to realize was in life, you must learn how to step up to problems you face. Sooner or later, it will happen to all of us. The source of support you always rely on will not be available. I turned the spotlight on myself. God will help you to uncover a method to handle failed expectations. How we feel these moments in life determine whether we advance to the next level or whether we remain stagnant where we are right now. You learn to make the best of whatever you must face.

Your Power of Choice

You cannot expect someone else to take care of you throughout your life. There comes a time we must choose as adults: services or work over self-interest. When we want service over self-interest, we say we are willing to be accountable and take responsibility for our individual lives. My father's refusal to pay my tuition helped me to understand the power of choice. I chose between dependency or empowerment. Dependence rests on the belief that there are people in positions of power who know what is best for you and takes away from you the privilege to discover your ability.

Dependency also holds those in positions above you personally responsible for how we feel about ourselves. This dependent mindset justifies and rationalizes our excuses for not doing what we can do ourselves. Empowerment, on the other hand, embodies the belief that the answer to what lies before us is within us, and therefore, we simply must buckle up for the challenge.

There comes a day you find out that God is our only real rock, refuge, and strength when adversity shows up. I believe this is how we come to realize if our commitment is genuine or not. When everything is going well, as it was for me at the time, you do not grow in faith. I began to understand that sometimes the reason things happen has little to do with the situation at hand and everything to do with our response to it.

I completed course requirements and graduated from Cortez Peters Business College in May 1968 with honors. Cortez Peters opened the door to my first government employment. I was hired by the Department of Army AG Publication Center in Middle River, Maryland, as a keypunch operator in the Automatic Data Processing Division.

Tragedy Strikes

Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, once said, A tragedy is a representation of an action that is whole and complete and of a certain magnitude. A whole is what has a beginning and middle and end."⁴

There was no way for me to know during the time the magnitude of what was on the horizon. The assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would generate a radical shift in Baltimore, the nation, and my life. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. met death by assassination on April 4th, 1968. I recollect that day. I was in bookkeeping class when I heard screams coming out of the classrooms. A classmate shouted, Dr. King is dead. From that moment, everything moved frantically. Students left the class and moved into the streets.

Over my head, I hear trouble in the air Over my head, I hear trouble in the air.

Over my head, I see trouble in the air Over my head; I see trouble in the air.

There must be a God, somewhere

Over my head is a line from an