Ministry name, location and length of service to date: New Unity Baptist Church, 2908 Hamilton Ave., Baltimore, Md., 21214. Celebrating 30th Pastoral Anniversary this year of 2024!
Education: Graduate of Forest Park Senior High School Class of 1970; Baltimore, Md. Graduate of University Maryland at Baltimore County (UMBC) with Bachelor’s in Interdisciplinary Studies majoring in Philosophy, Religious Studies, African American Studies, and Sociology. Attended Howard School of Divinity in Washington, D.C. and the St. Mary’s Seminary & Ecumenical Institute of Baltimore, Md.
Community you serve and main focus: Though a Baptist by denomination, I subscribe to the philosophy of John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement who is credited with saying that “the world is my parish.” Wherever there is hurting humanity that’s where I want to be – perhaps not physical simply due to the limits of time, space and distance but certainly actively supporting via prayer, financial resources, community organizing, agitation and other avenues of raising conscious awareness.
I am a firm believer that “we cannot teach ourselves what we do not know,” therefore we must constantly and continuously immerse ourselves in the activities and actions of the community and the world around us. Even in a world of remote aloofness, there is an undeniable fact that we are all inescapably and inextricably interconnected. No man/woman on an island no man/woman standing alone.
The uniqueness of your ministry. The uniqueness of our ministry lies not in its leadership but in its followers. In the diversity of age and gender, we pride ourselves on being known as “The Equipping Ministry Empowering the People of God for the Work of the Kingdom.” There can be little to no expansion of the Kingdom without true followers of the Savor’s mandate to “Preach, Teach, Baptize.”
Ministry challenges: Challenges reveal dedication to the mission, our decision abilities in the times of crisis and perhaps most importantly our dogged determination to see the mission completed. Challenges build muscles – physical, mental, emotional, spiritual; they are the building blocks of a strong and vibrant ministry. The satisfied leader avoids them, the strong ministry overcomes them.
Mentors: I have been schooled by the absolute best. My mentors are people of great integrity, intellect, and intuition. And I must not overlook the hundreds, yea, thousands of books, and other written material that have been my steadfast guidepost.
I would like to offer men and women such as Bishop Eugene Graves of Philadelphia, Pa., the Rev. Dr. Harold Dobson, Rev. Marion C. Bascom, Bishop Douglas Miles, Rev. James Wardrop of Youngstown, Ohio, Sister Dorothy Pullen Carroll of Quiche, Guatemala, Pastor Nettie Ellison, my Sunday School teacher Sister Gertrude Waters, my highly esteemed and inestimable pastor and man of men, the Rev. Harold A. Carter, Sr. Lastly, in the words of the African proverb, “never a great man who did not have a great mother” (you may justifiably argue the descriptor ‘greatness’ as it applies to me but that of my mother, Mrs. Rosa B. Porter, is unassailable).
Recreation choices. In my leisure time I love to read – anything/everything, play card games or anything dealing with numbers and history, garner and grow from the wisdom of my ten outstanding grandkids as their Babu (Swahili “grandfather, me) talk, share and bask in our love’s golden grandeur for each other.