inspirations
THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE Pastor Nathan Johnson leads Tabernacle
in celebration of milestone anniversary Founded 90 years ago, Tabernacle Baptist Church remembers ‘God’s Faithfulness’
By Danton Wilson SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Pastor Nathan Johnson
knows something about hur- ricanes. Raised in Galveston, Tex., Rev. Johnson often got close-up glimpses of the de- structive power of hurricanes.
“I remember as far back as
1961…I was but a child when Hurricane Carla hit Galveston, and I had never seen that kind of flooding before…of course, I would not have because I was a very young child,” recalled Rev. Johnson. “Later, I re- member thinking that the city had bounced back. It had not really bounced back. It was brought back by God.”
Those kinds of memories
have helped steel the pastor as he leads Tabernacle Mis- sionary Baptist Church in De- troit. He acknowledges seeing a parallel in the storms he wit- nessed as a youth in Galveston and the economic hurricane devastating Detroit and other urban areas these days.
“My experience growing up
in Galveston helped me learn that God is definitely able to rebuild,” explained Rev. Johnson. “He is able to bring back life to areas that people thought would never survive. And I believe that Detroit can rebuild even though it has been experiencing a hurricane kind of storm economically. We serve a God who special- izes in bringing cities and communities back if we trust Him.”
In fact, as Tabernacle pre-
pares to celebrate its 90th an- niversary, the minister is re- minding Tabernacle members and others that “through many storms and dangers,” the com- munity already has come. The theme for the church’s year- long commemoration is “Cel- ebrating God’s Faithfulness,” and a special anniversary ser- vice is set for Sunday, Nov. 14, at 11 a.m., preceded by a ban- quet at the church Friday, Nov. 12, at 6:30 p.m. Rev. Dr. Caro- lyn A. Knight of Atlanta-based CAN DO! Ministries is guest minister for both the banquet and Sunday worship services.
“I think the significance of
90 years of ministry is really that it testifies to God’s faith- fulness to this congregation,” said Pastor Johnson. “Of course, God’s faithfulness is not limited to Tabernacle, but Tabernacle certainly serves as a testament of God’s faithful- ness.
“Tabernacle started as a
handful of families in 1920, and God took that handful of families and raised up a mighty congregation that has lasted through depression, World War II, and through the Civil Rights Movement. Tabernacle is now placed in the heart of a city that has gone through much economic downturn, and it stands as a testament to remind people that God is still present. Tabernacle is not the only church that offers this evidence, but it is one that cer- tainly testifies to that truth.”
A minister for more than
29 years, Rev. Johnson was pastor of the historic Antioch Baptist Church in downtown Houston immediately before becoming pastor of Taber- nacle in 2004. He also has been pastor of Shiloh Mission- ary Baptist Church in Cedar Lane, Tex., and Mount Olive Baptist Church in Galveston. He taught for five years in the Dallas public schools system.
Pastor Johnson graduated
from Southwestern University and received advanced train- ing at Southwestern Theologi- cal Seminary. He also studied expository preaching at the Stephen Oxford Institute for Expository Preaching and the WHW Conference on Exposi-
‘Feed the Soul’
The What Can I Do Founda- tion will host “Feed the Soul” on Saturday, Nov. 13, at the corner of Cass and Martin Luther King Blvd. The purpose of the event is to give free food to the home- less. For more information, contact Alvita Darby (313) 525-9403 or Nicole Phillips (313)585- 4565.
NOVEMBER IS
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Johnson. “He has a great responsi-
bility, and our prayerfulness should not only be for him but also for us, so that God will allow us to have a good memory of how we got to where we are. That will help us properly interpret the chal- lenges that he’s facing.
“And we have to pray that
President Obama will not be discouraged, that he would listen to God as he seeks to make decisions…and pray for those that will be around him that they will be people of real wisdom and that they will share that wisdom with him.”
Tabernacle Pastor Nathan
Johnson and his wife, Mi- chelle, are the parents of four children, Bridgette, Zachariah, Nathaniel and Elizabeth.
For more information on PASTOR NATHAN JOHNSON and his wife, Michelle.
tory Preaching. A recipient of honorary
doctorate degrees from St. Thomas Christian College and the Tennessee School of Religion, Pastor Johnson has also served as lecturer for the National Baptist Convention Congress of Christian Educa- tion and is first vice president of the Wolverine State Con- gress of Christian Education.
A member of the Mayoral
Clergy Roundtable for De- troit, Pastor Johnson said he is pleased to work with Mayor Dave Bing, who he believes is “genuinely concerned and working very diligently to be the mayor who helps bring the city back.” He also applauded the mayor for seeking input from religious leaders across denominational lines as he works for the city’s revival.
Collaboration between
churches and between reli- gious leaders is something Tabernacle already has put into practice. Tabernacle re- cently partnered with nearby New Bethel Baptist Church, another historic institution, to host a weeklong series of Christian education classes.
“I think (this kind of col-
laboration) is very important,” Pastor Johnson said. “As we partnered with the New Bethel Baptist Church, it was an effort to really set forth an under- standing that we are working for the same cause, and that is the advancement of the king- dom. (In that effort), we saw collaboration between two dif- ferent state conventions. It showed how important it is to understand what we really have in common versus those things we may not have in common. We showed we un- derstood how to advance the kingdom and not merely ad- vance our denomination.”
The pastor’s concern about
institutions extends beyond church conventions and even individual churches such as Tabernacle. A primary prob- lem driving society’s decline, he says, is the downfall of so- ciety’s most basic institution – the family. It is why he has led Tabernacle to produce an annual program called “Doing
SAVE
Family God’s Way.” Said Rev. Johnson: “I think
that as goes the family, so goes the church, and so goes the larger society. If we can bring people back to an under- standing of God’s definition of family and how families are to relate to one another, then that kind of environment cannot help but positively impact the community.”
The pastor said Tabernacle
must continue to immerse itself in the issues and the life of the community beyond church walls. There was a time when the congregations of churches such as Taberna- cle were drawn almost exclu- sively from the surrounding neighborhood, he explained. Back then, the churches natu- rally were involved and visible in the communities where they were situated.
“Tabernacle at one time
was a community church, in the sense that the major por- tion of the members of the church lived in the area that surrounded the church,” said Rev. Johnson. “But as the church grew, Tabernacle became what is called in some circles a regional church, in the sense that we have people coming from every quadrant of the metroplex. However, we are in the midst of the com- munity, and we must not over- look the immediate context in which the church exists. We must go out and develop a relationship with the commu- nity – first, by exposing them to the gospel of Jesus Christ and then by giving evidence of our salvation through acts of kindness and good deeds.”
Tabernacle does this
through its “Claiming Our Je- rusalem” initiative, which in- volves church members head- ing into the community to host back-to-school rallies, help in cleanup campaigns and minis- ter to residents.
Meanwhile, the pastor often
emphasizes the importance of praying for President Barack Obama — and of recogniz- ing the forces arrayed against him.
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Chase mortgage customers are invited to a special Homeowner Assistance Event.
3 Day Event: November 13 through November 15, 2010 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
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the church’s 90th Anniversary banquet or worship services, call (313) 898-3325.
November 10-16, 2010
Page B-7
Kizzie Dawson-Wright celebrates 100 years
Mrs. Kizzie Dawson-Wright will celebrate her centennial on Nov. 10. She was born on a plantation in Georgia, the eldest of five children. She moved to Detroit in 1948 and is a faithful member of the Greater Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church. She enjoys cooking, gardening and crocheting.
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© 2010 JPMorgan Chase & Co.
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