Helping many, not being 'first,' matters most to the Rev. Robyn Moore

The Rev. Dr. Robyn Diane Moore is the first female pastor of the 106-year-old Historic First Baptist Institutional Church.

When the Rev. Moore speaks, her voice can take on an authoritative tone, as it is her way to provide rationale for her actions and thorough explanation on how activities will be executed, which she often does in rapid-fire fashion. Her words are not easy to forget, but this week, Moore didn’t feel much like talking about being the first woman to lead her church at 17101 West Seven Mile Road, in the College Park neighborhood.

“I never bring it up; I don’t want the attention to be on that,” said the 59-year-old Moore, who became the pastor at First Baptist Institutional Church in 2019. “I am a pastor who happens to be female. And my faith tells me that I’m supposed to reach out beyond the doors of the church to do things that will help our community.”

On Wednesday morning, Moore acted on her faith by providing food to the community at her church. The long line of cars that wrapped around stretches of Gilchrist Street, 7 Mile Road and onto Biltmore Street long before the scheduled 9 a.m. start time, strongly signaled that the food being distributed was addressing a crucial need. However, despite the chill in the air, the energy and enthusiasm displayed by the volunteers accompanying Moore seemed to indicate that a two-way exchange was actually occurring.

“Being out here in this cold, that’s a commitment,” said 72-year-old Mamie Batey, who sat at a table in front of the church facing 7 Mile, close to the Biltmore corner, and recorded information from people who came for food without vehicles.

A 44-year member of First Baptist Institutional Church, Batey joined in February 1978, when she and her husband Ron, treasurer of the church’s Trustee Board, were expecting their son, Marlon Cedric Batey, who would go on to become an aerospace engineer for NASA. At NASA, Marlon Batey worked on projects with names like the “CEV Smart Buyer Team,” “CEV Launch Abort System” and the “NESC ALAS Study” before he died in 2007 at the age of 28.

“He (Marlon) was our one and only son and we never received closure (about his death), but I’m still committed to being at First Baptist because that’s my family,” Mamie Batey said. “One of the things that I feel that God has gifted me with is hospitality and being able to do things for others that they are not able to do for themselves. And we just feel blessed to have a young pastor who is so dedicated, and we appreciate her because she endeavors to do for other people through her outreach.”

Like Mamie Batey, Janelle Coklow could not hide the fact that she was cold, too. But she had an abundance of warm words to share about her pastor and her church’s community mission.

“She (Rev. Moore)  is probably the most positive, most active pastor that I know right now,” said Coklow, who joined the church in 2020 right before the pandemic set in, after telling the pastor at her previous church of 15 years that she was being “elevated” and had to respectfully move on. “Reverend Moore is engaged and extremely caring, not only for her parishioners, but for the community at-large. She has had us walking the streets, passing out flyers to let people know what services we provide and to let them know that we will assist their needs any way we can.”

One volunteer who did not look cold on Wednesday morning was Phyllis Reynolds, and perhaps that had something to do with the black cap she wore with the words “Athens Greece” on it — a reminder of her summer vacation. Between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., Reynolds was in constant motion. And along with working her arms and legs, dialogue with the people she served seemingly never ceased: “Cabbage for you today?” “Do you like skim milk?” “Apples?” “You good?”

At one point, when Reynolds finally slowed down, she explained that her personal approach is very intentional.

“That’s just my nature. I’m trained as a registered nurse, so I like to give that personal touch,” said the 71-year-old Reynolds, who was baptized at First Baptist Institutional Church at the age of 8 when the church was located in Hamtramck on Mitchell Street. “We need to move Christianity beyond the four walls of the church and that’s Reverend Moore’s vision. Just like what we’re doing today, we’re here the first and third Wednesday of each month giving out food. This is our first year doing this in partnership with Forgotten Harvest and that was Reverend Moore’s vision. It’s a lot of work for us to do this, but when you go home you just have a tremendous sense of gratification to know that you made a small difference in someone’s life.”

Indeed, if the roughly two-hour food distribution performed Wednesday morning had concluded the church’s community outreach for the day, most people would have regarded it as a “gratifying” day of giving. But in reality, the community service was just getting started. Still to come that day inside the church, free to senior citizens from the neighborhood and beyond, were fitness classes and access to exercise equipment monitored by a professional trainer; “Doc Talk,” featuring a physician-led nutrition seminar, where participants were able to prepare homemade chili; Bible study, and introductory computer classes. All of the activities were a part of the first “Senior Wednesday,” which will be a weekly offering that First Baptist Institutional Church is presenting in partnership with Dedicated Senior Medical Center.

On Wednesday, when asked why she cares so much about local senior citizens, a smile came across Moore’s face and her voice took on a soft, gentle tone. She later explained that the wisdom provided by seniors is most helpful to her as she carries out her work in the community.

“There is so much to be gained through the wisdom of our seniors,” said Moore, a proud Cody High School Comet (Class of 1981). “We can learn so much just through stories. How did they come through Black Bottom? How did they come through the days when the church was in Hamtramck? How did they come through the civil rights movement? I’ve spoken to some seniors who knew Rosa Parks personally, so we need to be connected to our seniors. Our first Senior Wednesday was a very exciting day for us in a very engaging environment that we’re looking to grow.”

Moore’s statement, spoken Thursday, was a reminder of what 78-year-old Marvin Burton said about her the day before as he handed out food to people in need: “She (Reverend Moore) has a heart as big as a lion; ideas that flow like the river, and she is as strong as a bull,” Burton, who joined the church in 2002, professed. “She is a very, very dedicated servant to the Lord.”

On Sunday, the “dedicated servant” and her entire congregation and guests will have an opportunity to reflect during a special service celebrating the 106th anniversary of Historic First Baptist Institutional Church. Pastor Harold Caldwell, from nearby Transformation Christian Center, will be the guest speaker. Following the 10 a.m. service, there will be a pancake brunch with live music and a pictorial presentation chronicling the church’s history. And while all of the church’s rich history is being celebrated, Moore hinted Thursday that at some point her mind may go back to something that happened Wednesday during an introductory computer class she taught to seniors.

“There was a man who was maybe 65 to 70 years old and he could turn the computer on, but after that he was clueless,” explained Moore, who also is the mother of three (Alyson Hemmitt, 30; Dean Moore II, 28, and Alexis Moore, 26) and the grandmother of three (Jayce, Micah and Aliyah Hemmitt). “At one point, I was walking the class through Google and explaining how to close out of a page by clicking on the 'x,' and he said he didn’t know that until now. My heart sank, because we had just opened up a new world for him. And I said that’s the message I want to take to the community: ‘It doesn’t matter where you are, come as you are, and we can take you where you want to be at your comfort level.’ "

Scott Talley is a native Detroiter, a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and lifelong lover of Detroit culture in all of its diverse forms. In his second tour with the Free Press, which he grew up reading as a child, he is excited and humbled to cover the city’s neighborhoods and the many interesting people who define its various communities. Contact him at: stalley@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @STalleyfreep. Read more of Scott's stories at www.freep.com/mosaic/detroit-is/. 

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: There are no boundaries to Reverend Robyn Moore's service to Detroit