“Pastors started asking how could they be involved,” Wilson said.
He added that outreach during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic – when Oklahoma Baptists worked with Southern Baptist and non-Southern Baptist pastors to set up online giving and worship – also attracted pastors.
Many need to see that the Body of Christ expands beyond ethnic boundaries, Wilson said.
“We need to let the world see that the Gospel has no color. The soul has no color,” he said. “If we are going to reside in heaven together, we’ve got to learn to work together here.
“It’s really important to me, as a pastor, and as the director of African American ministries for our convention, that they see that [while] we know there are problems out there, there are some brothers and sisters who really mean brother and sisterly love.”
Hooks is encouraging full engagement in Oklahoma Baptist life.
“We are really encouraging our churches to be involved. Because, you’ve got to be at the table, and you can’t just be at the table when there’s something for you, or you perceive there’s something for you.
“When you participate, you build relationships. You get to know people and people get to know you, and it makes all the difference in the world,” he said.
When Hooks was called to Bryant Avenue Baptist Church, the congregation was majority white with only three Black members, he said. Today, he describes the church as nearly evenly comprised of Blacks and whites.
“I knew God brought me there. I knew why He brought me there, and it wasn’t to turn Bryant into a Black church or a white church. It was to turn it into [what] the Body of Christ would look like, together,” Hooks said. “People come in and they look at us, and they say, this is how it’s supposed to be.”
This article originally appeared here.
