Written by Tanya Terry, with photos by Tanya Terry
On Saturday, October 24, Mayor Sheldon Neeley presented the key to the city to Rev. Dr. Henry L. Fuller Jr. The ceremony took place at Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church. There, Rev. Fuller has served as pastor since 1998. Interestingly, he also preached his first sermon there in 1971.
At the ceremony, Neeley talked about the importance of honoring individuals while they are still alive.
Rev. Allen C. Overton Sr., senior pastor of Christ Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church and moderator of the Great Lakes Baptist District Association, pointed out the Key to the City is one of the highest honors a mayor can give.
“There is no one in the Baptist denomination in our community that has made the impact that Dr. Henry L. Fuller has,” Overton added.
He shared that Fuller has served as moderator of the Great Lakes Baptist District, which he did from 2000-2007. He added that Fuller served as president of the Wolverine State Baptist Convention.
“He has been to Africa,” shared Overton. “He has served. He has served. He has served.”
The Foreign Mission Board of the National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc presented Rev. Fuller with the Nelson Mandela Leadership Award September 9, 2015.
“Dr. Fuller you have led us. You have taught us-not through a whole lot of conversation, but through example.”
During a special recognition, Bishop Roger L Jones Sr., who has been a pastor in the Flint area for 63 years, shared his belief that the city would not have made the progress it had if it weren’t for Fuller.
“He has marched in the streets for civil rights,” stated Jones of Fuller.
“He has been a proponent of those who could not pick themselves up by their own bootstraps.” Jones added.
Pastor Rodney Ellison (in the absence of Pastor Michael Pettigrew of St. Paul Baptist Church, who was attending a training) presented Fuller with a plaque from the Faith Based Alliance Committee.
Pastor Fuller was born in Hernando, Mississippi, and raised in Arkansas. After attending elementary and high school in Arkansas, he relocated to Flint.
Fuller told the Courier he remembers the first sermon he preached at Mt. Calvary as being “challenging.”
Later, in 1973, he organized and built a church in Holly, Michigan, Faith Baptist Church, where he stayed 11 years. He was then called to Muncie, Indiana, where he spent 14 1/2 years at the Calvary Baptist Church.
“Then the Lord brought me back here, where I was already a member,” Fuller shared. “So, I assumed being the pastor here.”
In Holly, Rev. Fuller secured land for the building of public housing.
“And the Lord said: ‘No, you will build it in Indiana”‘ Fuller shared. “So, I built public housing in Indiana. And it’s debt free now. So, I returned here and am considering building our own community in Flint, Michigan for public housing and houses,. I think somehow we’ve looked away from the need for housing for people who are not super wealthy,”
Rev. Fuller, who said serving the community is the responsibility of a pastor, shared he has already talked to several individuals in Washington about his vision.
Dr. Fuller had received several Keys to the City while in Indiana and also received them from the last three mayors in Flint. Still, he said the Key to the City he received in Flint recently is special. He considers it a privilege to be able to serve in Flint in this era.
“I believe I was sent here to do the work here. I’ve enjoyed it all, and I’m believing there is work to be done even now.”
