Services held for late Rev. Adam Carrington, pastor and 'fighter' for Hillcrest community

Editor's note: This article was updated after its initial publication to include details about services in Corpus Christi on Saturday.

Rev. Adam Carrington, a local civil rights leader who advocated for one of Corpus Christi's most historically disadvantaged communities during a time of great change as a pastor, died Jan. 26 at a hospital in San Antonio.

His death, a result of ongoing health issues, was confirmed through his family by his associate pastor, Claudia Rush. He was 60.

The Oklahoma City native moved to Corpus Christi in the fall of 2014, then taking the reins of the Brooks AME Worship Center in the Northside neighborhood of Hillcrest, a predominantly Black and Hispanic community near Refinery Row.

Carrington, a retired U.S. Navy veteran and trained manufacturing engineer, brought with him what Rush described as a "down-to-earth" style of ministry that, while foreign at first, grew on his congregation.

He was sometimes casual with his dress, not always wearing a suit and collar, and he had a sharp wit and sense of humor to match, Rush said. When he was not preaching the word of God, church members became accustomed to hotly competitive games of cards and dominos — which were always readily available in a go-bag he kept.

"He had so many different roles he played in everybody's life and, while it was different for everybody, the most important thing was he was a friend to all of us," Rush, 66, said in an interview.

"We would sit at the table and talk for two to three hours, sometimes longer than that, after dinner on Sundays," said Jackie Caldwell, 67, the church's outreach director. "After it all, he would always say, 'OK, well, we've solved the problems of the world,' and we'd just laugh."

Initially, Carrington recalled in an interview with the Caller-Times last year, he figured his new role would be like any typical pastoral assignment. But shortly after getting settled, he heard rumblings about the new, nearly $1 billion Harbor Bridge project, which was expected to impact the neighborhood. Months later, Hillcrest residents filed a civil rights complaint seeking to halt the project, alleging it would disproportionately impact the neighborhood and cut it off from the rest of the city.

The complaint led to local, state and federal governmental entities striking a deal to give Hillcrest residents the option of relocating from the neighborhood. Part of their agreement established the Harbor Bridge Community Advisory Board, of which Carrington was later elected chairman. In that role, he served as a liaison between the community and the Texas Department of Transportation and local entities.

"That role was perfect for him," said Lamont Taylor, 70, a founding member of the Hillcrest Residents Association, of Carrington's role in those meetings — which were often heated as the bridge project pressed on. "He amplified people's voices. ... He provided an atmosphere for those individuals to emote and say what it was they needed and what was happening to them."

While most residents would eventually leave Hillcrest, Carrington made a point to remind local leaders that some stayed behind. So long as just one person remained, he said last year, the local governments "weren't close to done."

Last year, the Caller-Times interviewed dozens of current and former Hillcrest residents about the outcomes of the port's relocation program. In large part, those remaining said the hollowing out of the neighborhood has made living there untenable. Those who relocated reported mixed results, citing higher property taxes and a loss of community.

When the prospect of selling the church on North Port Avenue and relocating through the port's program came up, Carrington said he turned it down, opting to stay so those remaining in Hillcrest would have somewhere to worship — or just visit — without needing to cross any major roadways or heavy construction.

As a result, the church became the setting of more than just sermons and hymns over the years; it was a "home base" for the community's advocacy and rallies. Most recently, in October, the church was the backdrop to a news conference announcing the filing of a civil rights complaint — the same legal action that birthed the relocation program — against the city and its plans to build a marine desalination facility in the neighborhood.

"He'd say, 'I have the keys. That's what the church is for.''" said Monna Lytle, 67, a former Hillcrest resident, in an interview. "He opened his church to all of us."

To stand up to what Corpus Christi's Black residents perceived as discrimination was Carrington's instinct, according to Rev. Claude Axel, 79, a pastor of Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church. About two to three times a week, the duo bonded over breakfast to discuss the latest in the community and how to "keep the fight going," he said.

"The fight that he fought with those entities was the 'good fight,' and the trouble that he got in was 'good trouble,'" Axel said in an interview, invoking the words of the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a Black civil rights icon and the last of the Big Six civil rights activists led by Martin Luther King Jr. "There was no one as friendly, as loving, as open, as dependable and as genuine as Adam Carrington. I already miss him dearly."

But Axel expressed hope for the future, saying Carrington's example will inspire others.

"This journey is a relay race and each individual has so many yards to run," he said. "Now that Carrington has run his race, the baton has to be passed on."

There have been other fights along the way, too.

In 2018, when a local resident reportedly got a $4,000 utility bill, Carrington hosted a town hall on the matter at his church (the city later discovered a software glitch in the billing system). The following year, he publicly questioned whether depictions of the Confederate flag were appropriate for Corpus Christi's annual Buc Days Illuminated Night Parade.

In an interview last year, he said he fought such fights based on "a deep love for people."

"I cannot stand to see people mistreated. It's so unnecessary, and I get extremely angry about that. I get emotional, too," he said then. "That's why I keep fighting. I fight based on my love and my faith, and I'm going to continue to do it until God calls me home."

Services for Carrington were held in Austin on Feb. 17. A gathering at Corpus Christi Christian Fellowship, 6602 S. Staples St., was held Saturday in Corpus Christi. The ceremony was live-streamed at cccfellowship.com.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Adam Carrington, pastor and 'fighter' for Hillcrest community, dies at 60