South City, don’t overlook our ministry; we want a Life Together
As senior pastor of Historic Temple Church Of God In Christ for 26 years, I have great interest in and some concerns about the $250 million South City revitalization project.
Temple Church was purchased in the early 1930’s by Bishop Charles Harrison Mason, the Memphis-born founder of the six-million-member Church of God in Christ. The church sits directly across the street from South City, the old Porter Gym and the Boys & Girls Club.
It was a sacred and historic landmark at 672 S. Lauderdale long before Cleaborn Homes and Foote Homes were torn down. Our congregation and its nonprofit ministry, Life Together, served those residents for several decades.
Now we are looking forward to our Life Together with South City. We believe our nonprofit organization can play a significant role as a major stakeholder in the project.
With support from government, philanthropic and corporate partners, Life Together can provide a community health clinic, cybercafé, community theater, youth and senior citizens’ initiatives and an entrepreneurial school.
We could do all of that inside the now-abandoned Porter Gym. The city’s division of Housing & Community Development has a hold on the building. Instead of seeing the gym torn down, we’d like to be a part of its revitalization. But we are a small congregation and we need South City’s help.
Such a partnership would acknowledge and enhance Temple Church’s ongoing efforts to help our neighbors.
Temple Church has been a light shining in darkness in the community during segregation, civil rights movement, black political advancement, the crack-cocaine epidemic, tumultuous gang warfare, and the spiraling poverty and hopelessness associated with those old public housing projects.
During my tenure as pastor, the activities conducted by Life Together have impacted and changed lives in the Cleaborn Homes and Foote Homes community. We have saved children, embraced unwed mothers, and visited the sons and fathers incarcerated for senseless crimes.
We have launched inspiring campaigns against gangs, drugs and violence, including sports leagues that focus on teamwork and respect for others, cultural events, mentoring programs and community health festivals.
Now that the revitalization of the neighborhood is underway in the South City venture, I don’t want to be in competition with some politically connected philanthropic group or developer from outside of the community.
We presented our vision and plan at a recent South City meeting at Streets Ministries, hosted by the Urban Land Institute (which has no board members from 38126).
Members from Temple Church and my jurisdiction outnumbered everybody at the meeting. Only one elected official was present, including one candidate running for office.
Our presentation was heard. We hope it won’t be forgotten. Much too often, the same old names maintain control of the financial resources and the destiny of our communities. They obfuscate the position of the stakeholders and take charge of the operating philosophy and institutions in the area.
Then, they invite us to participate in their creation of the new and emerging community. We are already here. We watched Foote and Cleaborn housing projects grow. We watched them be torn down. We’re still here and South City is coming.
South City, can we have a Life Together?
Bishop David Allen Hall is senior pastor of Temple Church of God in Christ and executive director of Life Together, Inc.
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