Church with rich history is opening a new era

Mar. 7—A church with a long history in Beckley is entering a new era in its ages-old mission: feeding the hungry and being like Jesus.

Church leaders want to unite with other Beckley churches to do the Lord's work, Ebenezer Baptist Church Pastor Ballard Johnson says.

"Jesus came here with a new covenant, talking about love," the pastor said. "If you love somebody, you don't hurt them. You don't do anything wrong against them, do you? You do everything you can to help them.

"You got somebody you love? You help them. That's all Jesus asked us to do. Love thy neighbor," Johnson said. "Simple. And then you go to heaven when you're finished. What more can you ask for?"

Johnson and church staff recently established The Lord's Kitchen, which is designed to prepare and serve free meals to those who need them.

Ebenezer Baptist joined Beckley-Raleigh County Chamber of Commerce to provide a warming station for the homeless at the Beckley Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Building in February.

"My objective is to feed the elderly, the hungry, the homeless, to make sure everybody's taken care of," Johnson said.

The church has been in Beckley since the turn of the century.

According to Sheilah Brown of Beckley, whose late husband was the longtime pastor of Central Baptist Church, Ebenezer was birthed by Central Baptist.

Rebecca Mulch Delaney, 84, of Beckley has vivid memories of what the church has meant to her.

Delaney was born at home in Eccles in 1937.

"They weren't going to no hospitals when I come along," she said.

Delaney's family moved to Beckley around 1947 and started attending Ebenezer.

Beckley was different in those days, Delaney said.

Decades before former Ward V Beckley Common Councilwoman Madrith Chambers would successfully push for annexation of the predominantly black Red Brush district into city limits, the area sounded just like its name, according to Delaney.

"When I was growing up here, there was no streets here," she said. "They all called it the 'red brush.'"

Ebenezer was on South Fayette Street then, Delaney said. The church fed children and older people, she recalled.

"It was a lot of fun," Delaney said. "I got pictures of all of us. We had the choirs and everything. We had the Women's Improvement Leagues, and they used to send us to 4-H camp and different things like that.

"We just had a lot of things to do on the weekend," Delaney said. "You would go and have picnics. We was all together, and they all treated us the same. If I didn't do right, and if your mother was there, she could slap me upside the head.

"And then, I would pray that she didn't tell my mother. Because if she told her, I was going to get slapped upside the head again.

"Back in those days," she explained, "if I did something wrong and your mother saw me, and she pointed that finger at me ... you are so thankful, and you know she's not going to tell your mama.

"That will be the secret between the two of you. That's what that would be."

Delaney met her husband, the late Leon Delaney, at Stratton High School, where she graduated in 1955. They were high school sweethearts.

Leon had joined the U.S. Army.

"I might have fell in love with the uniform," said Delaney, laughing.

They married at Ebenezer on June 6, 1956, and had the reception later at her house at 210 West Moreland St.

"It was on a Saturday," she recalled. "Most of my bridesmaids and everything have done passed on."

She was 19 when they married.

The couple had children, all of whom were born in Beckley so that Dr. John Hedrick could deliver them, she said. They reared their children in Brooklyn, New York, and eventually divorced.

"Like I said, the uniform had looked good," she said again, laughing. "The uniform looked good."

Back in Beckley, Delaney is again a member of Ebenezer Baptist, but it has been a different church.

"The people that was here, even the older ones and a lot of the friends that was my age, they've passed on," she said.

She said she is looking forward to the changes that Johnson is bringing to the church in 2021.

"With what (Johnson's) doing, I think it's going to build back up," she said. "We used to feed dinners to the older people and stuff like that, and then the children used to have programs.

"There was things for the young people and all of that, and he has that sense of doing that."

Johnson said the church is moving toward fulfilling the Gospel by telling people about Jesus and making a community where needs are met.

The Lord's Kitchen was incorporated Monday, and Johnson wants it to be the beginning of a movement in the city.

On Feb. 28, Ebenezer Baptist joined with Bishop Eunice Jones, pastor of God's House of Miracles in Beckley, to feed 225 people.

"We're trying to get all the churches to work together for the same goal," he said. "We can do things when we have numbers.

"There's people out there that's elderly that can't eat because they don't have somebody to bring them food. There's homeless out there that need a warm meal ever so often," Johnson said.

"What we're hoping is that we can feed them so that one day, they might be able to pay it forward. We just want to help the community."

Ebenezer Baptist Church is sending out a newsletter with church events and opportunities for service. Those who wish to join the email list may email bvjiii23@yahoo.com

Johnson invited the community to attend a spring church service on Sunday, March 7. The sermon title is "I See Jesus Working."

Ebenezer Baptist is at 770 S. Fayette St.. More information is available by calling the church office at 304-252-4881.