Our History

Charleston Black Ministerial Alliance Inc.

Our History

Charleston Black Ministerial Alliance Inc. History

The Rev. Paul J. Gilmer founding president of the Charleston Black Ministerial Alliance. Rev. Gilmer was elected president and Rev. C.E. Johnson was the first secretary. Charter members were Rev. Ronald English, Rev. R. A. Banks, Rev. Hollis Tatum, Rev. L.R. Jones, Rev. Robert Calloway, Rev. J. C. Ealy, Rev. C. C. Corbett, Rev. A. G. Thomas, and Rev. Joseph Carter.

Founder/President, Charleston Black Ministers' Alliance 1967-76

Note: History supplied by Mrs. Anna Gilmer

Rev. Paul J. Gilmer and Rev. Joseph Carter March together with Charleston Mayor John Hutchinson.

Historical Highlights Charleston Black Ministerial Alliance

“And you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart,…” Deuteronomy 8:2

On this 40^th Anniversary of the Charleston Black Ministerial Alliance we pause to reflect on the Biblical meaning of the number 40 which signifies deliverance to the Promised Land through the disciplines of the desert. This context helps us grasp the mood of this moment as a time which shares the jubilation of the Mountaintop with the degradation of valley. So we consider our beginning, our blessings and our bruising in celebrating our journey. Our beginning is grounded in a spiritual tradition that shaped the mission and ministry of Richard Allen, Henry Highland Garnett, Adam Clayton Powell, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Charleston native, Dr. Leon Sullivan who stood in the lineage of African-American preachers who bent history. Blessings bestowed on the CBMA have inspired the work and planning of the 40^th Anniversary Celebration. By the grace of God and the goodwill of people in this community, we have been blessed to be a blessing to meet the needs of the least, the lost and the left out. Bruising is a malady of ministry which cannot be escaped; in fact it tests the will to survive and the capacity to endure. In the four decades of its existence, the Charleston Black Ministerial Alliance has experienced the peaks and the pits that imbue our human journey. It may well be by Providential design that the timing of our 40^th Anniversary observance is at the end of the calendar year but at the beginning of the Christian Year in the season of Advent. From its inception, the Alliance was engaged in adventurous endeavors inspired by the prophetic injunction “To build and to plant”. Its leaders have been bridge builders over treacherous and troubling waters. On multiple occasions, Dr. Sullivan expressed abiding gratitude for his hometown, but rarely without mentioning his esteem for two of his “Homeboys”, Rev. Moses Newsome and Rev. Paul Gilmer, who had made significant impact on his life and ministry by their engagement in community service beyond church service. They were also involved in ecumenical, interracial activities to strengthen constructive connections across the racial divide. Rev. Gilmer, pastor of First Baptist Church, Vandalia, was the first Black President of the Greater Charleston Ministerial Association from 1967-68 while he also served as the first Black Fire Chief in the City of Charleston. However, in response to the growing fervor of the Black Church movement in the late 60’s and early 70’s, Rev. Gilmer felt the need to organize a core group of Black ministers to address needs peculiar to the Black community of Charleston. The group began meeting informally, but regularly, in 1970 to encourage and promote religious, social and political activities in the Black community. Through these informal gatherings, they began building a brotherhood that emerged into a formal organization. In January of 1972 at the Shiloh Baptist Church, Rev. C. Edward Johnson, State Missionary for the West Virginia Baptist convention, presided over the meeting in which the constitution was drafted and Rev. Paul Gilmer was elected as the first President of the Charleston Black Ministerial Alliance. Other charter members present at this meeting included Rev. J.C. Ealy, Levi First Baptist (Rand); Rev. James Carter, Shiloh Baptist; Rev. Hollis L Tatum, Liberty Baptist; Rev. W.L. Dawson, First Baptist of Sharples; and Rev. Charles Turner of Charleston.

As Israel was not allowed to forget their deliverance from slavery in the land of Egypt, ministers in the Charleston Black Ministerial Alliance could not ignore the call to aid Sanitation Workers in their protest against unfair working conditions and their determination to move from disgrace to dignity. Rev. Gilmer mentored the leadership in the movement, especially to two young preachers, Rev. Ronald English, newly called pastor of First Baptist Charleston, and Rev. James Carter, pastor of Shiloh Baptist. Gilmer provided much needed counsel and guidance to these men and others which, enabled them to achieve significant goals of “Operation Human Dignity” – a name for the movement crafted by Pastor Carter.

Rev. Paul Gilmer was a man of legendary accomplishments and his model of Servant Leadership would inspire his successors to make unique contributions to the legacy of leadership that has sustained the 40 year sojourn of the CBMA.

In 1974, Rev Gilmer passed the mantle of leadership to Rev. James C. Perkins. He had watched him grow up through the State Baptist Convention at Hilltop before he returned to the valley as pastor of the St. Paul Baptist Church in St. Albans. Perkins had a passion for preaching and maintained a strong connection with some of the most gifted young preachers in the country. It was under his leadership that the CBMA sponsored the first service to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., before his birthday became a national holiday. Rev. Perkins also led the Alliance to sponsor the first annual City-Wide Revival which brought many celebrated preachers on their first trip to Charleston, such as Dr. Johnny Ray Youngblood of Brooklyn, NY; Dr. Walter Thomas of Baltimore, MD.; Dr. Charles Booth, West Chester, PA.; and Dr. Robert Laws of Brooklyn, NY

When Rev. Perkins was called to pastor the Greater Christ Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, Rev Braxton Broady, pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist, continued the linage of bringing outstanding preachers to public celebrations, which included Dr. Noel Taylor of Roanoke, VA, Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson of Mt. Vernon, NY and a venerable favorite, Dr. Frederick G. Sampson of Detroit, Michigan. The caliber of preaching delivered by these renowned evangels swelled the crowds and caused services to be moved to First Baptist of Charleston.

In 1980, Dr. Broady passed the Presidential mantle to Rev. Emmanuel Heyliger, Pastor of the Ferguson Memorial Baptist Church in West Dunbar. During his tenure, City-Wide services continued to attract premier preachers including the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright of Chicago. However, the flagship program of Pastor Heyliger’s presidency was the introduction of the Covenant Program , a partnership between the CBMA and One Valley Bank (now BB&T), which sponsored programs to promote home ownership, business loans and economic empowerment in the African-American community. Likewise, his passion for inclusion provoked two other pivotal events which signified the crossing of racial and gender lines in the CBMA’s 40 year pilgrimage. Rev. Ron Thaxton, who currently serves as Secretary, became first White member to join the Alliance. Also, Reverends Yolanda Wright and Roberta Smith became CBMA’s first Black female members. Rev. Smith is the recipient of 2010 Presidential Award.

Under the leadership of our current president, the Rev. Dr. Lloyd Allan Hill, the CBMA has stood at broken places in our community, particularly on Charleston’s East end, where young Black men and women have been victims of senseless violence. Pastor Hill has demonstrated a vigilant passion to make neighborhoods a safer place to live. Furthermore, he has led the CBMA in establishing a mentoring ministry through the “Jabaz Project” to help youth in our community to find hope in hard spaces and visit new places to envision new possibilities.

In essence, the 40 year sojourn of the CBMA provokes us to remember, rejoice and to renew our resolve to fulfill the higher calling as echoed in that old familiar hymn, A Charge to Keep , A God to Glorify “.

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Compiled by Ron English with the resourceful assistance of Mrs. Anne Gilmer, community historian and widow of Founding President Rev. Paul J. Gilmer

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