Calling all Fayette pastors: Join us for unity, relationship April 22

In the last 45 days, I have walked into three Fayette churches that I had never before known anything about, much less known their pastors. You know the three churches I am talking about. Many of you, just like me, have passed these faithful outposts of the Christian faith but never knew much more. We need to venture out more.

The first church was Flat Rock A.M.E. (African Methodist Episcopal) under the shepherding hand of Rev. Edward Johnson. Flat Rock is visible from Georgia 54 not too far from Adams Vegetable Stand. It has the distinction of being the oldest Black church in Fayette history. It’s a neat thing to go inside and experience a sanctuary where the faithful have worshipped without a skip for more than a hundred years.

The second church probably has the most passers-by as it is located on Georgia 85 just north of Fayetteville. It’s Flint Ridge Baptist Church under the caring pastorate of Rev. Jerome K. Drakeford. It’s sits up on a little hill as a light unto the nations overlooking gas stations, physicians’ offices, and a fitness center. It’s a church that prides itself on being Bible-based, Christ-centered, and Holy Spirit led.

But the third church I pass perhaps more than one or two times a day is Merrill Chapel United Methodist Church with Pastor Deborah C.M. Turman (sic). It too sits up on a little hill overlooking South Jeff Davis Drive. I am so familiar with its locations because the church I serve is just two miles south on the same road.
We are so close, but so far away.

These three pastors, along with several others, are trying to hammer out a covenant of relationship to include all Christian senior pastors in the Fayette area. The Gospel promises intimacy with God and with one another. Often the latter is lacking, especially among the shepherds. We find ourselves so preoccupied with our own flocks that we often don’t even realize there are others.

Well, my fellow brother and sister pastor are stepping out to do something new and never been done before in this county: to form a Christian ministerial alliance inclusive of Black and White senior pastors irrelevant of gender. Big step!

If you find yourself with those credentials, you are warmly invited to the next gathering where we will pray, encourage one another and continue mapping out just what we are all about. The next meeting will be held April 22 at the historic Holly Grove A.M.E. Church, 400 Holly Grove Church Road, Peachtree City. From 1897 until desegregation in the 1960s, the church also operated a school here for the community’s black children, grades 1-7, with donated text books. Meeting time will be 6 p.m. and yes, there will be food.

So, o ye senior pastors, walk in some churches you have just passed but they have never become personal. Join us April 22. We need to come together.