Several memorable activities occurred in Los Angeles’ faith community during 2016. The following lists some of the news reported in the Sentinel Religion section.
February 2 – The U.S. Postal Service dedicated the Richard Allen stamp. Known by many as the founder and first bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Allen was also a successful businessman, civic leader and social activist as well as a preacher. This year is the 200th anniversary of his founding of the AME Church.
– Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer, pastor of Faithful Central Bible Church in Inglewood, launched The Ulmer Institute, a nonprofit that will treat, research and train professional and community leaders to deal with urban psychological trauma such as shootings, stabbings and murders commonplace in many South Los Angeles neighborhoods. The project is a partnership between centers of faith, the Israeli psychological community, the Jewish community, Los Angeles-based clinics, hospitals and research universities.
Pastor J. Edgar Boyd of First AME Church of Los Angeles announces lawsuit victory on June 2. (photo by Clayton Everett/FAME Church)
June 2 – Pastor J. Edgar Boyd of First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles (FAME) announced that the church had finally prevailed in a four-year-old lawsuit against the Rev. John Hunter; his wife, Denise Hunter; and several others for inappropriately separating and removing the public benefit assets from the control of FAME church, without the knowledge of the congregation.
June 30 – The Rev. Herbert Nelson became the first African-American elected as the top ecclesiastical officer the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., a 1.6 million, 90% white denomination. Nelson previously directed the church’s public policy office in Washington.
October 15 – Thousands of people enjoyed local and national artists performing on the Brenda Marsh-Mitchell Gospel Stage at the 11th Annual Taste of Soul family festival. The McDonald’s Inspiration Celebration Gospel Tour highlighted the afternoon session, thanks to the sponsorship of the McDonald’s Black Operators Association of Southern California.
November 15 – Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr., was re-elected to a third term as presiding bishop of Church of God In Christ, Inc. The denomination boasts over 6.5 million members in 63 countries around the world. Blake is also pastor of West Angeles COGIC in L.A., a 25,000-member congregation.
May – The Baptist Ministers Conference of Los Angeles and Southern California saluted the Rev. Dr. Solomon L. Drake as he prepared to retire as pastor of Greater Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles. Drake served 34 years as the church’s spiritual leader.
June – Jeffrey Coprich, founder of the L.A. Inner-City Mass Choir (LAICMC), stepped down after 26 years as director of the renowned group.
July – The Right Rev. Theodore Larry Kirkland, Sr., elected as the 114th bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, retired after 55 years of active ministry. Prior to becoming bishop, he served nearly 20 years as pastor of Brookins Community AME Church in L.A.
October – Bishop L. Daniel Williams retired as pastor of The Baptist Church of the New Covenant in Norwalk. He served his 44 years as a minister and social activist in Southern California.
October – Bishop Donald R. Cook, Sr., founder and pastor of Harvest Tabernacle Bible Church in Los Angeles, retired following a 45-year ministerial career. In recognition of his service, the Los Angeles City Council designated the intersection of 55th St. and Holmes Avenue as Bishop Cook Square.
March 23 – The Rev. Dr. Paul M. Martin, the first African-American president of the American Baptist Seminary of the West (ABSW) in Berkley, passed away on March 23 at the age of 77. An ordained minister for more than six decades, his pastoral assignments included 23 years at the Redeemer Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles.
July 13 – The Rev. Dr. Whalen S. Jones, founder and pastor emeritus of Messiah Baptist Church in Los Angeles, passed away at 107-years-old. His 79-year ministry included 34 years as Messiah’s pastor before retiring in 1987.
October 17 – The Rev. Robert Lee Lockett, pastor of Bethesda Temple Apostolic Church in Los Angeles, passed away at the age of 65.
December 11 – Gospel legend Willie Joe Ligon passed away. He founded the Mighty Clouds of Joy in the late 1950s while attending Jefferson High School in Los Angeles.
Tags: Bishop Donald R. Cook Sr. | Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer | Bishop L. Daniel Williams | Bishop Theodore Larry Kirkland | Jeffrey Coprich | Pastor J. Edgar Boyd | Presiding Bishop Charles Blake | Rev. Dr. Paul M. Martin | Rev. Dr. Solomon L. Drake | Rev. Dr. Whalen S. Jones | Rev. Robert Lee Lockett | Richard Allen
Author and producer Kevon Gulley has revolutionized urban books with his debut novel “Just Like Compton”.
Since its publication in 2011, “Just Like Compton” has gained quite a bit of popularity. A one-time foster child, gang member and 13-year prison veteran, Gulley wrote the book because he decided it was time to make a change.
“It was three in the morning… Saving Black Boys popped into my head. I was like, ‘What is that? What is Saving Black Boys?’”
Gulley resisted the calling he felt God put on his heart but it wouldn’t leave him alone. Eventually he said yes to the spiritual urging and started the process of creating an organization that he feels will save lives.
Established in October 2014, Saving Black Boys (SBB) is a 501 © non-profit organization that partnered with the Los Angeles County and is constructed on all the things he felt he was missing in his life as a kid.
Gulley notes that the organization takes a realistic approach to life by teaching young Black youth how to deal with real life situations. He even incorporates the lessons he learned into Saving Black Boys programs.
Using his own money, Gulley started holding events in order to get SBB started and began a momentum which has turned into a living program. Some of the traditional programs include sex and driver’s education, but SBB takes it one step further.
“We have something called Pull Over Etiquette,” said Gulley. “We pull the kids over and we show them how to not get killed when the police pull them over.
“That shiny cellphone can get you killed, reaching for that radio can get you killed—it’s never the driver … the idiot in the passenger seat or the guy in the back seat that’s going to say something smart, sucking his teeth.”
Gulley does his best use these programs to fill in the void of fatherless young Black men that are a part of SBB.
The killing of young Black men across the nation has created groups like Black Lives Matter, which address these issues in a public forum, but Gulley makes a distinction between other organizations and SBB.
“When I told God no [initially], this was before Ezell Ford, Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, before any of those killings, that brand of confirmation, that was God saying, ‘Go do what I told you,” said Gulley.
“Black Lives Matter is a band-aid—we’re surgery,” said Gulley, who has respect for the national organization but feels SBB takes it one step further.
SBB has a couple of upcoming events that includes a magazine ad and a sleepover workshop, in which Gulley addresses issues like gang activity, police/civilian interaction and being fatherless. Gulley says real change starts with up close interaction.
“[They] need to see what you’re saying because everybody before you told [them] the same thing. So you’re not telling [them] anything new. We act out those skits that are really life skills.
Gulley shared a story about one of young men SBB was able to help and put him back on the track towards success.
“I had a kid, he was a Crip [gang member], his mom brought him to me crying, scared she would lose her son to the street” said Gulley. “That kid has now beaten out 400 hundred other students to get into St. John Bosco High School.
To Gulley, SBB exists because he said yes to a vision given to him by God. He is now creating a path he hopes will lead young Black men to a better future.
“When I told God no [initially], this was before Ezell Ford, Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, before any of those killings, that brand of confirmation, that was God saying, ‘Go do what I told you’.