In 1866, the Rev. Samuel Harding, pastor of Gloucester’s Zion Poplars Baptist Church, called together his fellow black religious leaders in the county in the hope of getting them to work hand in hand—providing assistance to one another and joining together to praise the Lord.
One hundred and fifty years later, the Gloucester Union Relief Association of Missionary Baptist is still going strong. And, to prove it, more than 200 people—including a large contingent of youth—gathered on Friday evening at the Abingdon Ruritan Club in Bena for a banquet celebrating this group’s sesquicentennial.
At the time of the organization’s founding, Zion Poplars was the only organized black church in the county, so it is assumed that the remaining religious leaders attending the 1866 meeting were in the process of organizing churches elsewhere in the county.
Aside from Zion Poplars, member churches include Bethel Baptist, Sassafras; First Baptist, Ordinary; First Morning Star Baptist, Bena; First United Baptist, White Marsh; Gleaning Baptist, Dutton; Morning Glory, Woods Cross Roads; New Mount Zion Baptist, Gloucester; Rising Valley Baptist, James Store; Saint Paul Baptist, Roanes; Shepherdsville Baptist, Ark; Union Zion Baptist, Ware Neck, and Zion Hill Baptist, Pinero. Several churches, now disbanded, were also members at one time: Ware Neck Baptist, Union Prospect Baptist and Berea Baptist.
According to a history of the organization, the Gloucester Union Relief Association was set up to provide financial assistance to churches struggling to erect buildings, to perform missionary work (both home and foreign) and to give relief to disabled and aged ministers.
Over the years, this group has served the important function of unifying these churches, their congregations and Gloucester’s black community through such events as the county’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance, its support for the restoration of the Woodville School and through its frequent worship services.
In 1866, “a vision was given to Rev. Harding,” said the Rev. Stevens A. Burrell of Gleaning Baptist, the current president of the Gloucester Union Relief Association. “We thank God for the vision he had.”
“We got here by the Grace of God. All we can do is just say ‘Thank You,’” said the Rev. Michael W. Jackson, pastor of Bethel Baptist, who then provided a musical offering.
The youth of the organization’s member churches played a big role in Friday’s service, starting with the opening procession, with youngsters holding banners representing each of the churches. That was followed by a choral performance—one of several on the evening—by the association youth under the direction of Sister Tracey Ellis Turner of First Morning Star Baptist. Then, another young person, Anthony Ellis, gave the evening’s scripture reading from Deuteronomy 6:6-25.
The Rev. Dr. Robert Allen Diggs Sr. was the evening’s guest speaker. The pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Petersburg, the Rev. Dr. Diggs grew up in the Mathews community of Cardinal and served as an officer in the Army for 23 years.
He joked that he came to be the evening’s guest speaker because of event organizer Dr. Dorothy C. Cooke, “who worried me and worried me and that’s why I’m here tonight.”
For his sermon topic, Dr. Diggs chose the story of the small boy who presented Jesus with five small barley loaves and two small fish and how Jesus used that small gift to feed the multitudes, and even have leftovers.
“I want to thank God for the little things,” he said.
“Because that little lad shared his little lunch,” the followers of Jesus had “as much as they wanted,” as well as leftovers. “We ought to be thankful for the little lad … (and) for the little lad’s lunch. But also for the little lad’s lunch that leads to leftovers … We ought to be thankful for the leftovers,” he said.
As a young boy at Zion Baptist Church in Cardinal, the Rev. Dr. Diggs remembered a prayer said by Deacon Reed, an elderly member of the church. It was always the same prayer, filled with thanks for the simple things.
“I want to thank God for waking me up this morning,” part of the prayer went. He also thanked God for giving him a “right portion of health and strength.
“I want to thank Him for shoes on my feet and clothes on my back,” the prayer continued. “I want to thank God for food in my cupboard … (and for) being in my right mind.”
The speaker then related a story from a Detroit minister, Dr. Tellis Chapman, who, while on vacation, had observed a homeless man who was searching in the dumpster when there was “a jolt in his body … almost like a quickening of the spirit” because he found a Burger King bag “with some weight to it.”
He said the homeless man carefully laid out his half-eaten burger and a few cold French fries. And then “he took his hands and put them together … (and) gave thanks to the Lord.”
If a homeless man can find a reason to give thanks to the Lord for such meager scraps, Dr. Diggs said, then “everyone up in here should be able to rejoice in the Lord.”