Close Menu
    Advertise With Us
    Religion

    The Alphas Celebrate At New Mount Olive Baptist Church The 2025 Celebration Service To Honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

    4 Mins Read40 Views
    Rev. Dr. Ezra Tillman,
    Advertisement

     New Mount Olive Baptist Church, 400 Northwest Ninth Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, will host the 49th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Service on Sunday, January 19, 2025, at 4:00 P.M.   The service is sponsored by the Zeta Alpha Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

    This year’s celebration will include a musical extravaganza with selections from The Men’s Chorus of New Mount Olive Baptist Church and Director Kenny Smith.  Reverend Dr. Ezra Tillman, Jr., will be the honored guest speaker.

    Rev. Dr. Ezra L. Tillman, Jr., is a proud native of Detroit, Michigan.  He accepted Christ at a young age and was spiritually nourished under the Pastoral leadership of the late Dr. John L. Webb of the New Mt. Vernon M.B.C. He humbly accepted the call of God into the Gospel Ministry and is currently the proud Pastor of First Baptist Church Piney Grove of Lauderdale Lakes, Florida.  A Godly man who supports the members with prayer and spiritual guidance.  This man of God conveys his love of God through his dynamic and anointed approach to gospel preaching, sound teaching, and soul stirring singing.  A compassionate man of God shows love and respect to the young, the elderly irrespective of race, sex, color, creed or culture.

    Pastor Tillman began his studies and has earned multiple Degrees; a Doctorate in Theological Studies, a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership (M.A.O.L.), a Master of Ministry (M. Min.) in Biblical Counseling Degree, and a Bachelor of Religious Education Degree (B.R.E.).

    Pastor Tillman started his pastoral ministry as Assistant Pastor of Greater Middle Missionary Baptist Church, in Royal Oak, Michigan, in 2009.  His knowledge of God’s Word, having a servant’s heart, and understanding of others allowed him to be effective in leading lost souls to Christ.  Since then, he has been called to Pastor in Cleveland Heights Ohio, Flint Michigan, and now serves as the Pastor of First Baptist Church Piney Grove of Lauderdale Lakes, Florida.

    Within Dr. Tillman’s first year of serving as Pastor at First Baptist Church Piney Grove, he launched the 700 Debt Free Campaign in efforts to becoming a debt free congregation.  Within six months, over $300,000 was raised by the membership resulting in the Burning of the Church Mortgage on May 15, 2024!  To God be the Glory!

    Additionally, new ministries have been birthed such as the Women of C.L.A.S.S. (Christian Ladies Appointed to Serve & Support) and the C.H.A.S.E. Ministry (Connecting Hearts and Souls Effectively) developed to create a safe, spiritual led environment for youth with special needs that includes Christian education and development.

    Pastor Tillman is no stranger to public service.  While serving in Flint he impacted the community at large during the Flint Water Crisis.  When government did not have a solution, Pastor Tillman provided The Water Box in partnership with actor and philanthropist Jaden Smith.  The Water Box is a portable water filtration system that can fill up a five-gallon jug of water in 30 seconds.  Due to his leadership, Pastor Tillman was awarded the Key to the City of Flint in 2020, making him the youngest pastor to receive this prestigious recognition to date.  In recognizing the uncertainties surrounding health as a result of the water crisis, Pastor Tillman alongside his wife Catrine, founded the Revive Community Health Center.  Revive aids in decreasing maternal/infant mortality and low birth weight in the African American population in Flint/Genesee County.  He’s a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

    Pastor Tillman has a heart for family and has been married to Catrina Tillman; a God fearing, spirit filled First Lady in her own right, for sixteen years.  Together they have been blessed with four sons:  Ezra III, Micah, Isaac and Luke.

    The annual celebration service is in recognition of the magnificent works of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Dr. King’s noble precepts and ideals regarding equal rights, privileges and love for all humankind led to the Congressional Declaration of January 15th as a National Holiday in his honor.  The public is invited and the Divine Nine is encouraged to attend this inspirational and educational program.

    For further information, please contact Sister Sandra James at the Church at (954) 463-5126 or Brother Michael A. Robinson at (954) 831- 7258.

    Share.

    Carma Lynn Henry Westside Gazette Newspaper 545 N.W. 7th Terrace, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311 Office: (954) 525-1489 Fax: (954) 525-1861

    Related Posts

    This College Chaplain Fills The Pews By Teaching, Not Preaching Lawrence Lockett Jr., Morgan State University chaplain. Credit: Lawrence Lockett Jr. via LinkedIn By REV. DOROTHY S. BOULWARE (Source: Amsterdam News) It’s understandable for parents of strong faith to worry about the spiritual lives of their children who’ve gone away to college. After all, it’s easy for a young person, perhaps on their own for the first time, to suc-cumb to the temptations of partying late on Saturday night and sleeping in on Sunday morning. But Minister Lawrence Lockett Jr., chaplain at Morgan State University in Baltimore, is packing them into the pews most Sundays. He is engaging them in lively ways during the week. And students are joining the choir, accompanying worship on various instruments, and serving as readers and leaders throughout the service. It is by the grace of God for sure, but also by the loving service of Lockett, who’s beginning his second year as the school’s director of chapel. He has grown his flock from the 25 or so students who showed up at his first services to more than 200 each Sunday. Sometimes, it’s standing room only. “We’ve been trying to figure out what to do next because on Easter Sunday we had 342 people, and some were standing in the back,” he said. Word In Black talked to Lockett about the secrets of his success: how his adjustment of Sunday ser-vices got people into the pews, why his philosophy for guiding students on their spiritual journey centers on independent thought, and how his “Spin the Block” initiative is shaking things up on campus. The in-terview has been edited for length and clarity. Word in Black: The first thing we want to know is, how do you get so many young people to chapel every Sunday?. Lawrence Lockett: Well, first of all, I changed the time of service from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. I realized a lot of the students like to sleep in late. It gives them time to do whatever they need to do. I’m sure many of them still like to party hearty over the weekend. So they have a good chance just to kind of refocus, recali-brate, get themselves lunch, and then come over to the chapel for service. When I started in November, maybe 20-25 students came, but now it’s over 200 that come every Sun-day, and it’s pretty cool. So now we’re repositioning ourselves to go after the freshman class this year. If we have the same success as last year, there’s definitely not going to be any room. Word in Black: Tell me about pastoring on a college campus. Lawrence Lockett: Morgan actually started as a biblical institute, so the Christian traditions have al-ways been here. As a pastor or shepherd, I’m walking students through their questions, not always just trying to preach answers to them. It’s about being vulnerable. I tell them I was in their same position, just trying to figure it out. And it’s not me just trying to give them answers. Having been there helps me really walk with them and anchor them in the storm of life that’s going to come. I want them to understand that their soul really matters. A lot of students focus on mental health, but they really need to focus on spiritual health as well. It should be one and the same. So I’ve been trying to preach that, if anything, spiritual health is just as important as your mental health. But we do encour-age the use of the counseling center, for sure, if there is a mental health crisis. WIB: What does Monday through Friday look like for you? LL: Mondays, we are usually off because of Sundays. On Tuesdays, we have Bible studies, so I’ll host a Bible study at noon along with my colleagues that work in the chapel. And then, I’m teaching a class called Hip-hop and the Gospel on Tuesdays at 2:30 p.m., dealing with mixing culture and religion. On Wednesdays, we do something called “breath and balance,” which is just a meditative type of pro-gram with breathing exercises as stress relievers. We work with the School of Nutrition Science and the food resource center so that the students get a nice free meal and practice breathing exercises and meth-ods to feel good about the day. For Thursdays, we started something called the mosaic, in which we have different campus ministers gather in small groups, just like a mosaic painting. So the students who come on Sundays then get plugged into small groups on Thursdays. And on Fridays at 1 p.m., we do prayer for Muslims.. We have an imam lecture and then lead in corporate prayer. It’s a good mix. WIB: What is “Spend a Block?” Didn’t you receive an award for it? LL: That started last year. We just basically do services outside: outside the residence halls, in the quad, wherever it may be. Honestly, worship on a college campus looks different than it did 20 or 30 years ago. Students want something real and authentic, something they can gravitate to, and something that’s convenient. So when we’re outside, people are like, “What’s all the noise outside? What’s all the music?” Then they come outside, and there are chairs, so they grab one and sit and enjoy the service. We come to them. They don’t have to come to us. At the very beginning of the semester, we do services outside the four resi-dence halls. And that kind of gives us a steamroll into homecoming week. And we’ve seen a lot of success because of that. WIB: What should I expect when I arrive for Sunday service? LL: You’re gonna see a lot of involvement with students. I’ve learned that students like to feel invested, and they want to participate in what’s going on. They don’t want to be told by adults what they should and shouldn’t do. So when you go to the service, you’ll see our praise team full of students. You’ll see a choir full of students. You’ll see students reading scripture. You’ll see students giving testimonies. And then I’ll come in and give a sermon, or I’ll have a guest friend or a guest preacher come in to do the sermon. But you’re gonna see a lot of student involvement, and I think that also assisted with a lot of the growth be-cause when they see fellow students, they understand they’re just like me, and if they can do it, I can do it. WIB: What about musicians and choir? LL: The musicians are also students. They say, “Hey, I love to play. I wanna use my gifts in some way, shape, or form.” And they’ll ask whether or not there’s a spot for them. And we say absolutely. And there is a chapel choir. Some of the members are also members of the university choir. WIB: What is the “next” you see for the chapel? LL: I want the students to know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and make a difference. The chapel really is the heartbeat of the campus, and I want students to know more about where faith, hope, and belonging really stem from. I also want the chapel to become more interfaith and involve as many students and beliefs as possible.