UPDATED: Champaign council to consider naming honorary street after retired Salem pastor
Apr. 14--------
CHAMPAIGN — A Champaign pastor known for his lasting impact on the local community may soon leave another mark.
The Champaign City Council on Tuesday night will vote on naming a block of Park Street, between Fifth and Sixth streets, after Claude Shelby Sr., the longtime pastor at Salem Baptist Church.
Marnita Harris, Shelby's granddaughter, submitted an application to the city in December under its honorary street name program, which aims to designate public ways after people who have provided a significant cultural, historical or humanitarian impact to the city.
If approved, four street signs in his name will decorate the block near Salem Baptist, where Shelby, who turned 92 last month, served as pastor for 41 years.
"He retired in March 2022, and I really thought it was a good time, that he deserved to have something there close to the church because of the amount of time and the amount of effort he poured into not only the church but the community," Harris said.
Shelby took in nearly 300 new members in his first three years pastoring at Salem Baptist, Harris noted, and led the church's effort to build a new sanctuary in 1993.
Among many other contributions, Shelby taught its Sunday school staff, organized a Christian Education Committee and Baptist Youth Fellowship, served as president of the Ministerial Alliance of Champaign-Urbana and was on the board of education for the Brooklyn, Ill., school system for 23 years.
Shelby was also one of the founding organizers in 1985 of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Advocacy For Justice Committee, which has provided over 350 scholarships to local high school students seeking a higher education.
Donna Tanner-Harold, who grew up attending Salem Baptist and served with Shelby on the MLK committee, also wrote a letter to the city in support of having a Champaign block named after the reverend.
Tanner-Harold described Shelby as a compassionate, active and attentive pastor who was proud to support the older and younger members of his congregation alike.
He conducted the funeral service for Tanner-Harold's mother and often called and checked on her in her later years as she lived to 101.
And when Tanner-Harold's daughter, Erika, was crowned Miss America in 2003, Shelby hung her picture and plaque on a church wall.
Tanner-Harold noted that Shelby has not only mentored ministers in Salem Baptist but those in other churches as well, while emphasizing the value of education, serving God, the community and making a difference.
"Sometimes when Black students would come to our community, to the University of Illinois, but maybe to Parkland, too, they would often go to Salem and find a church home there," Tanner-Harold said.
"I thought he was very good about opening the doors to people just coming through our community and making them a part and making them feel welcome."
Harris and Tanner-Harold both described Shelby as very "deserving" of an honor the city can award up to four times a year. He'd be the first of 2024.
"He's a very humble person, so I don't feel like he really necessarily celebrates all that he does, he's not arrogant at all," Harris said.
"So I think it would be nice for him to see that the community thought enough about him or appreciated him enough to have the street sign."