Close Menu
    Advertise With Us
    Religion

    The New Mount Olive Baptist Church celebrates 100 years of community, service, and fellowship

    4 Mins Read10 Views
    Pat Carter
    Advertisement
    Pat Carter

    By Charles Moseley

    (Part II)

    The late Reverend George E. Weaver’s tenure as senior pastor was marked by tremendous growth and expansion of the church before the late Dr. Mack King Carter assumed his role as senior pastor after co-pastoring with Rev. Weaver for 16 months. This ushered in a new era in which the church reflected his brand of “liberation theology” in which he sought an even greater role by the church aimed at taking the word of God from “the pulpit to the pavement.” Dr. Carter felt the need to transition the church to  meet both the spiritual as well as socio-economic needs of the community.

    Dr. Mack King Carter

    Beginning in 1982 under Dr. Carter, the New Mt. Olive Baptist Church expanded its influence locally, nationally, and internationally culminating in a full-time missionary project in Kenya, East Africa. During his tenure, the mortgage on the current facility was burned in 1989.

    As the saying goes “behind every great man is a great woman,” Patricia Carter, the widow of Dr. Carter more than fulfilled her role as First Lady of the New Mount Olive Baptist Church, every step of the way. Mrs. Carter joined the church under Rev. Weaver at the old sanctuary after moving to Ocala, Florida and marrying Dr. Carter.

    “My dad never thought that I would return to Fort Lauderdale as the wife of the church pastor,” said Mrs. Carter

    ‘My husband definitely believed in the gospel of salvation but also in a gospel that extended beyond just the church building and beyond. People had to see the church having an impact,” added Mrs. Carter.

    “I think for any institution or organization to last for a century is just phenomenal and I feel really blessed to be a part of the celebration.

    Reverend Wayne Lomax joined the ministerial staff in 1985 and served 12 years under the leadership of Dr. Mack King Carter.

    “Those years eclipsed any ministry experience that I’ve had, including serving as pastor of The Fountain for more than 20 years.”

    “Every great preacher in America visited Mount Olive under Dr. Carter’s tenure including the late Gardner C. Taylor, Dr. William Augustus Jones, Dr. Leon Sullivan, Dr. Joseph Jackson, Dr. Fred Shuttlesworth, Dr. Martin Luther King, Sr.,” said Reverend Lo-max.

    “Now begins the second century! I am confident that you will soar higher, dig deeper, stretch wider, and stand fast on the Firm Foundation,” added Reverend Wayne Lomax.

    Although Dr. Carter’s span of influence extended far and wide reaching and impacting thousands of lives, he had a unique impact on Dr. Rosalind Osgood, an associate minister at the New Mt. Olive Baptist Church and church member since the age of seven under Rev. Weaver. Dr. Osgood also serves as President/CEO of the Mount Olive Development Corporation founded by Dr. Carter.

    ‘Dr. Carter had a major impact on my life. He gave me op-portunities that other people would not have given me. Opportunities like from coming off the streets homeless and coming back to this church. He demonstrated true Christian love by embracing me and my kids, giving me a job at the church, training me as a preacher -licensed and ordained and naming me the first female preacher licensed and ordained and placing me in the pulpit here.”

    After an extensive nation-wide search, the church began the arduous task of trying to fill the shoes of Dr. Mack King Carter. In 2009 a 34-year-old preacher’s son from Tuscumbia, Alabama by the name of Marcus D. Davidson assumed the mantle of leadership as senior pastor of New Mt. Olive Baptist Church.

    Reverend Dr. Marcus Demond Davidson is a native of Tuscumbia, Alabama. He is the son of Rev. Dr. Green Davidson, III and Mrs. Barbara Bostick-Davidson.  He has four siblings: Vanessa Batten, Latresha Davidson-Woods, Rev. Green Davidson, IV, and LaBradford Davidson.  He is married to Mrs. Yvokia Jones-Davidson; they have one child, Layla Alexandria.  He is the Senior Pastor of New Mount Olive Baptist Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and President and CEO of PMD Ministries, Inc., offering seminars, lectures, workshops, and curricula focusing on leadership.

    Since 1983 Deacon James Elliott has witnessed first- hand the in print that Rev. Weaver, Dr. Carter, and now Rev. Davidson have had at New Mt. Olive.

    “Rev. Weaver and Dr. Carter were excellent teachers and instructors and just all-around Godly people. The excellance continues  under Dr. Marcus D. Davidson who is a younger replica to me, of Dr. Mack King Carter.”

    “The fact that we are celebrating the church’s 100th Anniversary speaks volumes on how great and merciful God is. He has really been blessing us and providing us with guidance and dynamic leaders and it has just been an inspiration and blessing to me as we

    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.