Historically Black church honors leaders for their service to others in 2020

Mar. 1—FAIRMONT — Clergy wear pastoral stoles as a symbol of their sacred servanthood to God as they continually minister to others.

On Sunday, Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church honored 11 guests with pastoral stoles for their service to Marion County, their churches and the Black community during the church's inaugural Trailblazer Legacy Awards.

Held on the last day of Black History Month, Pastor Mark Staples said he got the idea for the celebration through prayer after witnessing the challenging events of 2020.

Staples cited the May 2020 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn. by white now-fired police officer Derek Chauvin that led to a worldwide show of solidarity against police use of force and systemic racism all happening amid a worldwide pandemic that has now claimed the lives of more than 500,000 Americans.

"The struggle today was also to not forget what we saw on that May 25th, to be reminded of that, but also to be reminded of history even when slavery began ... but also to provide hope because of all the people around the world who not only became aware, but their love moved them to action and that's where the people have got to step in. We saw how hurtful it was, but their love moved them to action."

Fairmont Mayor Tom Mainella joined Staples in presenting the stoles and accompanying certificates to the church's guests. The stoles were made of Ghanaian kente cloth, which is historically reserved for royalty in the Ewe and Ashanti cultures.

Prior to the presentation, Mainella read the city council's Black History Month proclamation, which he signed and presented to Staples after the church celebration. He honored church members for "sacrificing, adapting and persevering to serve those in need in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest."

"In addition to celebrating the lives and contributions of prominent African-Americans, importantly, the observance of Black History Month calls to our attention for the continued need to battle systemic racism and to build an inclusive society that lives up to our nation's democratic ideals for all citizens," Mainella read.

Three honorees have had a hands-on role in the past year battling COVID-19. The church honored Marion County Health Department Administrator Lloyd White, Tiffany Walker Samuels and Romelia Hodges, who are members of the COVID-19 Advisory Committee on African American Disparities that was established last spring by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.

Hodges and Walker Samuels began working with White last year after an outbreak of COVID-19 occured after a celebration at Morning Star Baptist Church in which 14 churchgoers traveled in a van from Fairmont to a church in Everettsville, near the Marion County line in Monongalia County. Two COVID deaths resulted after that event.

After the outbreak, Hodges began canvassing church members at the two events to ensure they had access to COVID testing. She and Walker would end up calling parishioners, going door to door and setting up appointments for testing. Since then, the Advisory Committee has hosted numerous COVID testing and vaccination events for the Black community in hopes of bringing people to wholeness and stop community spread.

Hodges said she is grateful to be honored by the Black community Sunday.

"We have been through trials and tribulations for the last 11 months and it means that they have seen my work, they've seen the bridges that we have built with the political leaders and others in that community that have the resources and bring them back to the community," Hodges said. "It shows that we can work together and move forward."

And despite the reality that the number of new COVID cases has dropped in recent weeks, the virus is still here among us, she said.

"We have so much work to be done. Tiffany and I are working on some projects now to bring some things to the community and we look forward to building the community of Fairmont bigger and better," Hodges said.

Walker Samuels echoed Hodges' sentiment and said the award is a "tremendous honor."

"Romelia and I have put in, not just hours of endless effort, but days, weeks and months of endless effort and we do it for our community and for the love of God and it's nice to be recognized by those people that we worked so hard for."

White characterized the honor as the result of what happens when a community works together.

"I think it tell us that we're in the middle of a pandemic and it's a heck of a fight, but if everybody works together, stays together, supports one another, encourages one another, then we'll win this dadgone war against COVID-19," White said.

White said the battle against COVID is not over and he urges residents to continue using the same health and safety protocols that have been in place for almost a year. He said the health department will continue to conduct vaccination clinics in order to help stop the spread.

In the next two weeks, White said, Marion County will receive a "one-time allotment" of 1,252 doses each for this week and next week. After that, allotments will again drop down to the mid-300 dose range. The target group currently, he said, is residents age 65 and older.

The remaining Trailblazer Legacy Award honorees are:

Former Fairmont Mayor Brad Merrifield, Pastor Michael Little of Good Hope Baptist Church in Barrackville, Agape Life Ministries Pastor Leo Riley, retired United Methodist Pastor Richard Bowyer, Fairmont First Baptist Church Pastor Valerie Gittings for their role in working on the Fairmont Pastoral Alliance for Social Justice and Change.

Others honored include Morgantown entrepreneur Bilal Adams, Dunbar Foundation President Houston Richardson and Bishop Kenneth Anderson, of Clairton, Pennsylvania for his role consulting with Mt. Zion.

"We're making history so that we will leave a rich history for Fairmont and West Virginia, all for the glory of God," Staples said. "This is what George Floyd would have wanted ... the church, we are bridge builders."

Reach Eric Cravey at 304-367-2523.