Several well-known Detroit area pastors and their respective congregations came together in a major way to help the city of Flint answer the call for the #FlintWaterCrisis. This effort was spearheaded under the leadership of New Life Family Church Pastor Welton Smith IV, Second Ebenezer Church Bishop Edgar L. Vann, Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ’s Bishop J. Drew Sheard and Triumph Church Pastor Solomon Kinloch, Jr. They were also called to join forces with mega-pastor Dr. Jamal Harrison-Bryant from Empowerment Temple AME in Baltimore, to help out with the efforts. Together, they named the movement Revive Matthew 25, which simply notes, “When I was hungry, you fed me. When I was thirsty, you gave me a drink” (Matthew 25:35), and that’s exactly what the pastors collectively did.
“It’s important for the church to be a part of this. This is the first time that the black church’s not being on the forefront of civic engagement. So, this is our attempt to let our voices be heard and make a dent in a serious crisis in our community. If we only rally around black lives, around murder and aggressive policing, then it’s really not whole encompassing. But this says that really black lives matter in every area of life,” said Dr. Jamal Harrison-Bryant on the significance of the churches coming together.
The churches amassed over 15K cases of water and drove them to Flint in a caravan of more than 100 large trucks, vans and cars. The water was distributed to several church locations, with First Trinity Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Ezra Tillman being the first stop. Water was also distributed to five nursing homes in Flint, as the seniors need water delivered the most because many can’t get out to actually go pick up the water.
“This is a great start to something that we probably haven’t seen in a long time in Detroit. You’ve seen unity across denominational lines, where no one is trying to get any credit, any attention. We’re just actually coming to cater to a need that has arisen in our sisters and brothers’ neighborhood right around the corner. So, there are a lot of things that need to be done futuristically to resolve the issue that’s going on in Flint. But this is a great start. It’s going to be almost 500K cases of water once it’s all said and done. It’s a great start to get where we’re trying to go,” said Pastor Welton Smith, IV of New Life Family Church.
