Bishop Robert Culp has done a lot in his time. He met the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. while in college, became the first-ever Black basketball player for Youth for Christ International, and had dinner with former Republic of China leader Chiang Kai-shek — and that was all before he came to Toledo.

It was 1961, and he was 26 years old, when he was chosen to lead Toledo's crisis-riddled First Church of God. He steadied the boat, became president of the local NAACP branch, and helped create Family House, a homeless shelter that keeps families together, and Sparrow's Nest, a women's shelter for abused women.

“Big cities scared me, small towns didn’t challenge me,” reflected Bishop Culp, who turned 86 in October. “Toledo was the right size. First time we visited, my wife and I decided we’re going to spend the rest of our lives here, and we’ve done just that.”

It's fitting, then, that Bishop Culp will be the speaker at the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Toledo and Vicinity's annual Black History Month service, which will honor the “Legends of Toledo” — its name for the community's elderly faith leaders. The service, estimated to last about 90 minutes, begins at 4 p.m. Sunday at Warren AME Church, 915 Collingwood Blvd., Toledo. 

Ahmed Elbenni

A Toledo Imam travels the state tending to inmates' souls

The IMA is the region's largest group of African American pastors.

“We've got so many pastors that have been pastoring in Toledo for years — 40, 50, 60 years — and we just want to show them the respect they deserve,” said the Rev. Cedric Brock, pastor of Mount Nebo Baptist Church and president of the IMA. “They've been bishops, doctors, pastors, mothers, fathers in ministry. They've done so much, they've benefited us so much for the next generation, we want to acknowledge them during this moment we're in. Due to COVID we've lost so many — we don't want to miss a chance to tell people how much we love them and value them.”

Legends

The 14-member roster of legends is certainly formidable, encapsulating more than a half-century of local history.

Among the honorees is the Rev. Bill Harris, of Rapture Ministries, who will be the service’s master of ceremonies. Long before embracing a life of ministry, Pastor Harris worked in the news industry. In fact, he was Toledo’s first African American television news reporter, working for WTVG, Channel 13 for more than two decades.

He started off as a photographer in July 1968 but was promoted into the news department just 17 months later, in November 1969. He eventually became the assistant news director, receiving two Emmy Awards, seven Crystal Awards, and an Associated Press Award for his news reports, which aired locally and nationally. Even after leaving Channel 13 in 1991, following its acquisition by 13 ABC, he was welcomed back to do segments on financial advising every other week.

“They’ve been very good to me all these years,” he said of Channel 13. His media experience eventually helped him launch his own weekly TV show, Update with Bill Harris.

Barbara Hendel

Hendel: NAACP recognizes past presidents during Black History Month

Bishop Pat McKinstry, another of the honorees, got her start preaching the Gospel more than 50 years ago as an 11-year-old evangelist within the Church of God in Christ. In 2008 she opened her own church, Worship Center, on Collingwood Boulevard. She took on the role of bishop in 2015.

“I’m a Black female and then a preacher on top of that, so I’ve [overcome] a lot of odds,” she said. While she doesn’t think becoming a Black female bishop is necessarily any easier today, as “you’re still going to have some folks who are never going to move on from the old,” she also believes that “once you have somebody who has gone ahead of you that’s close by, it’s easier.”

Bishop McKinstry is grateful for all that she has accomplished “by the grace of God,” but she’s especially proud of establishing an accredited theological school and the Rise and Shine Academy, a children’s school run by two grandchildren who got their doctorates in education from Bowling Green State University.

Having achieved what she’s set out to do, Bishop McKinstry said, “I leave myself open now to the Macedonia call,” from wherever it might come. She won’t be around for her honoring on Sunday — she has a speaking engagement in Atlanta, Ga. 

Bishop Chester Trail feels humbled to be included on the list of legends. Much of his approach to ministry and to life in general was formed by his seven years of professional baseball, which he now continues in spirit as the city of Toledo’s baseball ambassador.

Reflecting on the achievements of which he is most proud, though, it’s not baseball that Bishop Trail singles out. He thinks instead of the two years he spent as a life and academic coach at Libbey High School. The governor’s office had hired him to mentor struggling ninth grade students to ensure that they didn’t drop out of school. Of the 40 students, 39 went on to 10th grade. 

Now, more than 13 years later, he’s heading the development of a recreation facility — complete with courts and fields for baseball, soccer, lacrosse, and volleyball — at the site where Libbey High School once stood. 

Of every member on the list, Pastor Brock had the same refrain: “That's a warrior, that's a legend.”

Dream

Despite the generally celebratory character of the IMA service, Bishop Culp intends to draw attention to the more troubling dimensions of contemporary Black religious life in his speech, titled "Black Church History: Rehearse It and Reverse It." It will both reflect on the history of the Black church and address its current challenges.

“There are things that the Black church has not done that it needs to do in this day and time,” said Bishop Culp. “We need to, instead of competing, begin complementing each other. We’ve fallen into habits and traditions that have kept us from being effective in the Black community itself. There was a time when the church was at the forefront of life and activity of the Black community, but it no longer is. In some ways we’re almost thought of as irrelevant.”

While rates of church attendance among Black adults remain high, a recent Pew Research Survey found that young Black adults are less religious and less engaged in Black churches than older generations. The report found that “Black Millennials and members of Generation Z are less likely to rely on prayer, less likely to have grown up in Black churches and less likely to say religion is an important part of their lives.” About 21 percent of Black Americans identify as ashiest, agnostic, or nothing in particular.

Bishop Culp is optimistic that the church can reclaim its place at the heart of Black community life, but also expects it to be "a hard battle" that will “take the rest of this generation” to win.

As for Black History Month itself, Bishop Culp has always harbored mixed feelings. That Black history needs a month for itself indicates, to him, that it has not yet been truly normalized and accepted as part of the broader American story. When it finally is, even the IMA's annual Black History Month service will no longer be needed.

“That would be a dream,” said Bishop Culp. “We need to observe it until it becomes a true part of American history, and we haven’t arrived at that yet.”

First Published February 27, 2022, 3:00 p.m.