♫ We’ve come this far by faith ♫ ♫ Leaning on the Lord ♫ ♫ Trusting in His holy word ♫ ♫ He never fail me yet ♫ ♫ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♫ ♫ Can’t turn around ♫ ♫ We’ve come this far by faith ♫ Everybody help me say, ♫ Come this far by faith ♫ ♫ Leaning on the Lord ♫ ♫ Oh, trust ♫ ♫ Trusting in his holy word ♫ He'll never fail you yet.

♫ He never failed me yet ♫ ♫ Oh!

Oh, oh, oh ♫ ♫ Can't turn around ♫ ♫ We’ve come this far by faith ♫ Just a little bit now, ♫ Come this far by faith ♫ ♫ Yeah ♫ ♫ Leaning on the Lord ♫ ♫ Trusting in His holy word ♫ ♫ He never fail me yet ♫ And just, ♫ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♫ ♫ Can’t turn around ♫ ♫ We've come this far by faith ♫ ♫ Oh, we've come this far by faith ♫ ♫ Oh ♫ ♫ Leaning on the Lord ♫ ♫ Trusting in His holy word ♫ ♫ Oh, yeah ♫ ♫ He never fail me yet ♫ ♫ And just, oh, oh, oh, oh ♫ ♫ Can’t turn around ♫ ♫ We’ve come this far by faith ♫ We are in church, and I just felt like all of a sudden, Sunday morning.

I'm telling you.

So we're gonna, just, you know, try to just allow this to just move as the Lord wants it to move.

Amen.

And we are so glad to have you here in historic Wesley Temple.

Can we just thank God for... - Amen.

Amen.

- So my name is Mark Greer, I'm the executive director of the Akron Bicentennial.

Some of you may not know that I'm also an ordained minister.

So, you know, I'm going to try to keep myself a little, more calm than in most of the other forums that you've been to, Amen.

But we're so glad to be here and this could not be a better ending to the Forgotten History Forum series.

This is our 12th.

And to end the bicentennial year here in this beautiful historic church, we really could not have planned it any better than this.

So we are so thankful to have you here with us.

We want to, of course, thank First Energy Foundation, who is the signature sponsor of the Forgotten History Forum series, and also our exclusive media partners at PBS Western Reserve, of which tonight's broadcast will be, will be released, in the coming year.

So a lot to look forward to in 2026.

We want to really begin tonight by giving you a couple of announcements.

Of course, we're already now at the end of the bicentennial year.

So for those of you who have been to more of our history forums, I usually have a litany of things that I get to preview of what's happening next.

This is the last thing.

So there is nothing after this.

And on behalf of the Akron 200 staff, we are happy that there is nothing left after this.

253 events over the course of the year so we are glad to be thankful to be here at the end, but of course, to share it with all of you.

We want to, of course, remind you that when you came in, you should have all received an index card.

And no, this is not for you to write down your church membership information, but, this is for you to write down your questions.

And the last 15 minutes, we're going to have a great Q&A with our esteemed panelists here.

So we want you to write down your questions for the panel about midway through the forum.

Akron 200 staff Jasina Chapman and Rose Vance-Grom will go up and down the aisles here.

And no, we're not going up and down the aisles to pass the plates.

But we're going up and down the aisles to collect your question cards.

So give us your questions, and we'll get to as many of them as we can.

At the end of tonight's History Forum.

But I'm very excited to introduce to you our esteemed panelists and I'm going to start to my left here with Bishop Marc Neal.

We are so glad to have Bishop Neal on the panel.

He is the founder and the pastor of Dominion Family Church, and he is also a partner with the Greater Akron Fellowship of Clergy.

Bishop Neal has been a licensed minister since 1984, ordained in 1987 and consecrated bishop in 2005.

He is the Presiding Bishop of Come Alive Ministry International Fellowship.

Please help us welcome Bishop Marc Neal.

And now, I am very honored to introduce the pastor of Wesley Temple AME Zion Church, Reverend George William Smith-Whitfield.

So Reverend Smith-Whitfield hails from Cleveland, Ohio, where he enjoyed a profound relationship with his great, with his late grandmother, Edith Greer.

I have to say, Greer, what a great name that is.

Who played a significant role in in raising him.

He is an esteemed elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.

Reverend Smith-Whitfield has led several congregations, including the Brown Community AME Zion Church in East Saint Louis, and also the first AME Zion Church in Portland, Oregon, and the fifth Avenue AME Zion Church in Troy, New York.

On December 5th, 2020, he was appointed by Bishop W. Darin Moore to pastor the historic Wesley Temple AME Zion Church in Akron, Ohio.

Please again, help us welcome Pastor George William Smith.

We're so excited to have our next panelist with us.

And I just have to also say she's been so helpful in the planning of tonight's forum.

And this is Miss Pamela Valentine.

The second of four children, Pamela was born in Monroeville, Pamela was born in Monroeville, Alabama.

At a young age, she and her family relocated to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and she graduated from Langley High School in Pittsburgh, and is a 1978 graduate of the University of Akron, where she received her Bachelor of Science in Accounting.

Pamela Valentine is active in many professional and civic organizations, including the Western Reserve Girl Scout Council.

She's the past president of the Board of Trustees for the Young Women's Christian Association of Summit County, and she is an active member and past two term chapter president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated.

Please help us welcome Miss Pam Valentine.

And next, we’re so glad to have Bishop— Excuse me, Dr.

Bishop Samuel Hampton II, who is the senior pastor of First Apostolic Faith Church, the Faith Place here in Akron, Ohio and as well, we are so glad to have him.

He is the assistant presiding bishop of the Abrahamic Temple Diocese.

I could really go long on his bio, but for time constraints, we'll just say thank you, Bishop Hampton, for being on the panel.

And last but certainly not least, this person really needs no introduction.

But we are so honored to have Miss Ophelia Averitt.

I mean, we talk about honor to have you, have you on the panel.

I just have to say, when I was a young boy, my mother, who was also a pastor would take me to her shop there on the corner of Copley and Frederick.

And she had the best chocolate chip ice cream I'm telling you.

Amazing.

Amazing.

Miss Ophelia Averitt, of course, has been a long time Akron NAACP President.

She has a doctorate in civil rights.

She is so active and has really set the bar in civic engagement here in Akron.

And she is the National Life Membership Committee president of the NAACP.

Please help us welcome Miss Ophelia Averitt.

So tonight's forum, we're going to be focused on the history of the African-American church here in Akron.

And while we could easily spend the entirety of this time talking about specific church history, what we wanted to do is focus on the collective church history of the black church and the impact and really looking at the role of the African-American church here in Akron as a part of our community, as a part of civic life, of society, progress.

How has the black church really helped shape not only our community, but the entire city of Akron.

So I wanted to really start off by posing this question to our panel of when we look at the community, I often think as the church goes, so the community goes.

Can you talk more about the role of the African-American church as is related to the community and culture of African-Americans?

- Well, I can start with that.

That's a very good question.

The Black church has always been the center of the African-American community.

It was a gathering place.

When we couldn’t meet any place else we could meet in our churches.

And because of that, a lot of first came out of the African-American church.

For instance, the NAACP in Akron was started in this church.

Delta Sigma Theta alumni sorority was started in this church.

Also, we birthed a lot of first, like, Ed Davis was very active in the church.

They started their campaigns when they were running for political offices in their church.

Reverend Eugene Morgan, who happened to be the pastor here for many years, was the first African-American on the school board.

They started his campaign in the basement of this church.

So that's one of the histories of the Black church and this was our gathering place.

This is the only place that we can meet and be safe and to do the work that we needed to do.

- When you sit and think about it for the African-American community, where would we be without the black church?

For many of us as children growing up, we went to Boy Scouts in the Black church.

We learned math skills, reading skills through the Black church.

We learned about social skills coming together.

We learned about family in the Black church.

So our values were built on that.

That's where we saw Black men and Black women, how they interact as fathers and mothers and getting together.

So when you start to think about it, not only were there so many great first that happened in the Black church, but the continuation of legacy, right?

That provided when our governments did not come through for us, the Black church came together.

It was a place of feeding, a place of community, a place of fellowship, a place of encouragement building.

So there's so many things, I always sit and think about where would I be today if it was not for the Black church and with the impact it had on my life and the lives a lot of my friends and family members.

- Absolutely.

- May I say, we had a Sunday school that ran each of us on Sunday to be in church because we had the Sunday school there that we had to be there.

We learned early about Christianity.

And we learned it from our parents.

We learned it from those that we played with every day.

We were taught in school, which I'm hoping so much that we can get... back in school.

I say, the scripture.

We learned a lot of that.

And in learning this, we also know how to practice it.

We didn't have to just turn it and then leave it off.

We have to build up our Sunday schools like we had never before, and we always find that this is where we would get our leaders from throughout the country in any form.

If we start right here in the church, wherever.

- One of the things that both Bishop Hampton and Miss Averitt, you know, just talked about, talking about the foundational role of the Black church in terms of education.

So many times our schools came out of the church, especially when we look at the early Black churches in Akron.

Can you talk more about the role of education?

And as related to the African-American church?

- I would like to say that, education as, Mother Averitt already stated, started in the black church because even denominationally for the Baptist, it was BTU Baptist training.

For others it might have been YPWW, or the Willing Workers.

So they were always arms from Vacation Bible School where it started learning how to read, learn how to write when there was times where we were not taught properly or integrated into certain schools.

That was the pastors or the deacons or the leaders who educated themselves, who then educated the membership and other leaders and begin to pass it on down from generation to generation.

Because it was a time when they were, we were kept from education.

Because it was stated that, we don't want any educated Negroes because the more they become educated, the more learned they will be and the more they begin to move forward in this day up and move out and go about to think that there is something.

So let's keep them uneducated.

But the Black church, especially here in the city of Akron, serves and still serves as a place of education because there's a lot of afterschool programs before school and even after programs that still exists in the Black church here in Akron and we're doing all of our best to continue that education.

- Absolutely.

I think we're hearing that, you know, the church filled the gap.

And the things that either we did not have access to or we were kept from, the church filled that void.

Pastor Smith-Whitfield, I know you have a long history, of course, with education and so on.

And you've pastored in a lot of different and diverse communities.

Can you talk more about that?

When we look at the African-American church in Akron and the role that has been played in the development here, from your experiences pastoring and a wide, wide array of communities, talk more about that role.

- So, all of the communities that I have pastored and whether it was on the West Coast, the East Coast, or in the Midwest, I will say that the Black church universal is the same thing, right?

They wanted to make sure that they provide resources to those that are in the community.

When things were happening, when injustices were happening, the Black church in all of those locations were out there speaking truth to power, right?

When people wanted to silence the Black church, they spoke louder, right?

Whether it was from our pulpits, whether it was from the communities.

And they wanted, one thing I wanted to talk about education.

A lot of our HBCU's are connected to the Black church, right?

We would not have a lot of our HBCUs if it wasn't for the Black church.

When they did not want to educate us, we decided that we will come together and we will provide the resources for our Black and Brown people, our students to scholars to be able to be educated.

And so, you know, the Black church took the initiative and that is common, no matter where you go, that the Black church will be there for the community.

- Absolutely.

- You know, when you think about that, it starts talking about this education, which gets me excited about I think about the role of mothers and fathers, men and women, because it was women who would make sure they would teach us how to read, how to do that.

And then it was the fathers that made sure we had skills.

Right?

And so, the two were educating us not just for a community engagement, not just that, but also for sustainability for the community, right?

And so we were learning education, we were learning skills, we were learning how to work with our hands and even when we got to the place where they started to help us so much to the point where we didn't have to work with our hands, because now we were getting so educated, we were able to know how to use our minds and choose to work with our hands, right?

And so they were showing us these all these things.

And the last thing I would say on this is they set a platform for us to stand on their shoulders and they pushed us to be greater.

And so that's why I thank the Lord for the so many dynamics of the Black church, because not only got me God through the Black church, but I also learned how to expand and to push others because of my experience through the Black church.

- And then also, you know, with the Black church if our parents or if your parents could not be there to help you do some things, the rest of the people of the church would pick up the banner.

My father died when I was young.

If it had not been for our local church to picking up the banner to help this young mother with these four children to make sure that they got to where they needed to be to get the education that, you know, to get.

My mother never remarried, and all four of her kids have college education, and it dealt with our church helping my mother.

So the church helped their community.

- May I say something at this time?

So many of you remember the Silverleaf Club.

That came from this church because the men didn't have anywhere to go, no society or anything.

So the men of Wesley Temple formed this club, which was their own house for many, many years.

And it had to be where you needed a cause.

You had to belong to the church.

You didn't walk off the street.

And then they reached out to get the other young people.

They didn't leave them behind.

They wanted to bring them there.

And of course, the mother, as Pam is saying there, and God has said, they are the backbone of these kids that had to grow up and try.

And on Sunday evening may I say this.

The gentlemen that... I’ll say most of the doctors, a lot of them, they used to call this the Church of Doctors and teachers or whatever.

And you know what?

You didn't run across any of them that didn't speak or gave you a smile.

They were educated, but in many ways that we have to continue to do today, because if we don't take somebody with us, where are we going?

No place.

Reach out and ask God to lead you there.

And don't pass anybody up.

Everybody is somebody.

And when we realize that that is leadership.

It comes with humility.

And this church has always tried to promote that, leaving none behind, bringing everyone falling.

- Absolutely.

I think that... Absolutely, absolutely.

As we're talking more and more about the foundations of the African-American church and how, again, it really is the center of life for the Black community.

When you look at early Akron history and the earliest black residents here in Akron, the numbers started quite small.

But as the number of African-Americans in Akron grew, the number of churched grew.

And we, it's a very interesting thing to look at, but as you trace Akron's Black population, with the ebbs and flows when it rose, when it contracted, you can also see that churches followed those same trends.

So when we talk about the importance of the African American church, one of the questions I wanted to pose is how has that changed over the last several, let's say, a decade here in Akron?

You know, obviously there was a time, Miss Averitt, you talked about this.

You said, where we had to be there in church and as a pastor's son, I can also say, we had to be in church.

We didn't get a vote on Sunday.

You know, you were going, and there was no such thing as being sick.

You just went, but has that trend... How has that changed?

Do we still see the African-American church as the center of Black culture?

- By all means.

I think that we are more conscious of this now with the condition of the the country than any other time.

We are growing closer together.

I've noticed that everybody has a smile on their face.

It's because we have so much in common, but we don't like to admit it half of the time.

But admit it because it's going to come true and it's going to... We'll see that each one of us have something to offer.

You may not think you have, but you do.

But let it spread to others and let everybody know that you are somebody.

That's why I quote, no one in here has a different fingerprint.

Everybody has a fingerprint of their own.

That means that you are a leader.

Teach that to your children.

Teach that to everyone that you meet.

Everybody is willing and able to help you if you just let them into your fold, let them into what you’re doing.

We can help each other with that you know.

Sometimes we don't let each other what we're standing for, what we should be doing.

Our God has blessed you.

Tell somebody they all at the ball games, they do all of that stuff don’t they?

But we keep this other secret as if nobody knows.

Let us do that.

If you have a voice, let’s sing like this angel over here.

Talk to this musician there then you just spread the word everywhere he goes.

Look beyond us and see our deeds and see what we are in need of.

And give us a helping hand.

Don't pass us by as if you didn't know us.

Or you don't want to know us.

Let’s do it.

- But in reference to your question about, you know, to be honest, I don't think the Black church is the center of our community anymore.

I think the more freedoms that we have, the further away we've gotten from our churches.

Unfortunately.

And so that's why I think, you know, so many of our churches are struggling today, because of that.

And I think if people really look at it, you know, this is their foundation and we want people to come back, but how do we do it?

We don’t, know you?

- Sister Valentine, I want to echo what you said, that the church is not the Black church, it’s not the center of attention or our community, but I want to say it is the center of our community.

Right now it’s approximately, what, 200,000 people in Akron, population, about 60 some thousand Blacks, etc.

Amongst that, here in the city of Akron, there's 169 Black churches.

So we're in the community.

We're visible there, but it's not for the purpose that it once was from the very beginning.

Now it's a crisis center or it is a center that is going to provide resources, but not simply for the spirituality, building humanity, the education, the reunification, the empowerment.

It is based upon our situation when we come to the Black church.

And Pastor Bishop Hampton and I was talking earlier that the Black church has been filling gaps for bookbag giveaways, back to school supplies, feeding for the community during Thanksgiving.

During Christmas, the Black community partnering with other organizations to pass out toys.

And even the Black church, but really don't realize and we get a bad rap at times is that we just dare to, raise money, give to the pastor, etc.

but what they don't mention is the amount of money and benevolence that the Black church gives back to the community.

And just because we're not on social media doing it or calling the Akron Beacon Journal talking about it, the Black church is giving away thousands of dollars every month buying, food, diapers, milk, medication, paying the rent, paying utilities.

The pastors and the deacons are going down to the hospitals, going down to the school boards, going down to the courts.

The Black church is a vital piece of our community.

And if it wasn't, the politicians wouldn't be calling this as well when it's their turn to run or they need some support.

So we're right here in the community.

But not for what it was in the beginning.

People have made us an option instead of a priority.

- So, and when you talk about that, Bishop Neal, and as we’re sharing this, it’s so critical for us to think about that.

Before it was the gathering place.

The gathering place now is the place I run to when I need help.

But if I don't need help, I don't need it.

Right?

And so now it's a different change.

We still there.

And what some fail to realize is the church is there whether you give to it or not.

So we're going to have our Black parties, we’re going to have our community fairs, we’re going to have our giveaways, whether you give a dime to or not.

Now we need the money to give, but we're believing God for the benevolence to be able to do it in spite of and we made a commitment because we're not going to let go of the legacy.

Now, there's a legacy what we're talking about because not only have we received, as I talked about earlier, Christ and learn about God here, but many of us have benefited from the forefathers and the foremothers in their labors and their hard work and their giving attitude.

And so many of us have made up in our mind because of the call, and then also because of the legacy we're going to stand regardless of the appreciation.

Or the lack thereof, we're going to stand.

Why?

Because we realize that if we fold our communities in trouble, if we fold our community— when the government shut down, it was the church, the African-American community.

The churches came together and we start saying, okay, we're going to get more food from the food bank.

We're going to provide more places, more giveaways, because we realize if the government doesn't help, they're still going to have to be helped because people are still hungry, kids still need diapers, baby still need the formula.

So we're going to stand up together and collaborate to help because we're not going nowhere.

- Pastor Smith-Whitfield.

I know you had something you wanted to add.

- So I was sitting here because when you first ask the question, I do agree that for a lot of people that the church is not the center because there's so many things.

Back in the day, we didn't have all of the things that we have now.

And so the church was that place where— Because on Sunday mornings, everything was closed but the church.

There was no baseball games, there were no movies.

It was the church.

But now in 2025, everything is open on a Sunday morning.

And so the church is still relevant.

We just have to figure out how to be relevant in 21st century, right?

We still preaching the same thing.

The gospel is the same thing.

But how do we reach and let the generations after us know that the church is still here?

Because as you say, as my colleagues have said, people say that the church is all about giving them the money and things of that nature.

But we do really good work in the Black church to meet the needs of those in the community.

The media needs to tell that part of what the Black church does.

- And also the coming together of the Black pastors has been phenomenal here in Akron.

And it's not that way every place.

Last December, the ministers got together and had a dinner for the homeless that Bishop led here at the church.

We had a hear at Wesley Temple, Bishop led it, you know, he is not the bishop of this church, but he came here and we partnered with the churches.

And so that came and gave out food and stuff.

And so that coming together, the Black church in Akron is really phenomenal and it doesn't happen every place.

- May I say something?

- Yes.

- We have to get the place out of the church.

Four or five people over here, Why do you think God want to say, two or more in my... - Gathering.

- Why did he say that?

He wasn't talking about the clicks and all of that that we practice.

We can reach people by just being nice.

Do you know?

Just be nice.

Just be kind.

The late Mrs.

(unknown) used to always say, I don't think any word is any better than being kind.

Kind.

Do you know that it takes a lot, doesn't it?

Be kind.

Not to some but for everybody.

God will do things for you that you've never known that he would, that you would be able to receive it.

If you be kind and be nice, not a click of any kind.

When you pass somebody and don't speak do you know who sees you?

Almighty God, don't forget it.

You deliberately speak to them, whoever you are and whatever you are, make it ability to be.

Speak to people, be kind.

Then these young people will see what you are doing and would copy what you are doing.

Do it.

That's one of the recipes that we have.

That's in government and civic engagement and all of that goes together.

Don't forget it.

Make yourself a person that will stand out for God.

These bishops wouldn't have that much trouble if you give.

You know that?

You want to just sit on whatever you have and think that God don't see you, but he sees everything.

- See, you are getting, you know, some really good word this evening, but this means this does not mean that you don't need to still go to church on Sunday.

Just saying.

But can we talk more about this?

- Pam, you brought this up as well about this collaboration between our Black churches, and how it... Yes, historically, oftentimes a lot of churches have kind of stood alone, but we've seen great progress in the community happen when churches started coming together partnering, collaborations, even outside of their denominations.

Can we talk, you know, historically about how that has helped shape progress and even policy here in Akron?

- You know, this is a great conversation.

Some of these things happened in the past it just wasn't as public.

So you had the Pentecostal Apostolic pastor connecting with the Baptist pastor, connecting with the AME pastor, connecting with the Episcopalian.

But it wasn't always public.

And now where we're making a decision is in Christ as we're coming together publicly, right?

Because now it’s helping people see.

Everybody was talking about is there a point of community?

Right?

And we realize that we've been made one in Christ and so we can't allow our denominational walls to cause us not to come together because when we do that segregation, then we keep on perpetrating that or presenting it further and our children multiply it.

Right?

So when we start saying like, well, only that, you know, this group of people can worship together on this group of people can work together.

Then they start to multiply and that's how we get gangs and affiliations because they don't see community.

So it's so vital that we come together and Bishop Neal has been leading us in the Greater Akron Fellowship of Clergy.

And we're coming together, worshiping together, and then also working together in our various roles and fields to see our community better.

And lastly, when you start to think about it, the times are demanding it.

And some of us pastors are starting to sit and have conversations about merging churches because we start to recognize that if we pull resources together we can even do more for our community instead of just having this church over here struggling, this church over here struggling, I'm over here struggling.

And now if we come together, now we have the resources and buildings to now do greater for our community.

- Absolutely - You know, for years, years when Reverend Morgan was here and all the pastors after him, Mount Olive, Mount Zion and Wesley Temple would always, those three churches would always fellowship at least once a year together because they were the first, second and third churches here in Akron.

And they stuck together.

They did things together.

And then I remember the men meeting on Sundays downstairs.

They called it the Brotherhood Breakfast.

But men from other churches would come to that breakfast and they would talk politics and what's going on in this city and how we can help each other to do the things that we needed to do for this city.

- Absolutely.

One of the things I wanted to ask our panel is, if you were just talking to someone and really, you know, giving a summation of the Black church, the experience, the impact, what is something that people don't know about the African-American church?

- I don't think that we... It's our society.

People have (unintelligible) and all those things.

Am I right?

Our society.

Thank you.

You know, may I say, until we learn to live together, like Pam was saying about the churches.

We as a people need to do that.

I just said it a few minutes ago and I repeat it again, learn to get along with each other, not to talk about one another unless it's something good to say.

God smiles when you treat others right.

Remember that he sees everything.

He hears everything.

He knows what you're thinking now.

So think good thoughts because we all need those.

- You know, one thing that I think people don't realize that don't know because they don't publicize it, is that the African-American church is more than just a Sunday worship service.

Most of our churches are open seven days a week.

You know, you'll find someone at this church just about seven, or any church about seve days a week.

We're more than that.

You know, we do things other than just Sunday worship, and it's because we have to.

We have to take care of our people.

- These young people (unintelligible).

That's what you said.

They remember things that we have seem to forgotten.

And that is caring for them, teaching them the right things and not the things that you see every day on TV or whatever.

That there is a life beyond all of this fluff or whatever is out there.

- I will also talk about one of the things is we're more than an emotional experience.

So a lot of times when you see the African American church portrayed, preachers are loud and rambunctious.

The choir is just jumping and running and those things might happen.

However, if you also stay and listen, you have intellectual men and women sharing biblical truths and principles so that our communities can be better sharpened and know how to not only have what letters on a page, but how do I take those letters on the page from the book, the Bible, and now apply it in my everyday living where it's more than just an emotional experience, it's an intellectual glory in developing and sharpening that takes place.

So sometimes we’re only presented, is that we're loud.

We know how to jump, shout, and play great music, but there's some intellectual conversations going on as we share and talk one with another.

- Absolutely.

- I would just like to say that, one thing that I could tell everyone about the Black church that they may or may not know well, I think that some don't, is that we are more inclusive of people.

We're not discriminatory based upon the gender, as they are saying, or race.

That we have embrace people from all walks of life and we engage with them on a regular basis.

We're not fearful.

We're not afraid.

Our doors are open because we have people who have hit certain places of life economically and taking the fall, and some are trying to get back up.

Sometimes they think that the church is not there for them, but we are.

So I just want people to know that the church, the Black church specifically is inclusive, and we're also more ecumenical than sometimes people think that we are, but we are inclusive and more ecumenical.

And I just want to reiterate that.

- Absolutely.

I would be remiss if we didn't mention, you know, of course there are so many foundational and such strong male figures in the African-American church, here in Akron, who have, you know, done and have been recognized for their great work.

But there are a lot of women in ministry that have not been recognized nearly as much as their male counterparts.

And I'm just, I'm not only saying this because I have a mother who's a pastor.

But when we look at some of these, you know, foundational women in ministry, whether it was Pastor Annie Greer or Pastor Stone, Pastor Lately Johnson, can someone on the panel talk about the impact that women have had in the African-American church?

- Well, I can, I want to start that only because we just... I think it was September, hosted a Women Empowering Women luncheon where we acknowledge the women in ministry here in the city of Akron and the women pastors who are here.

We were at the Gus Johnson Center with, with Pastor Kevin Rushing as a senior pastor.

And there was over 100 women that was celebrating in ministry because we do recognize their impact that they have had.

And there were pastors like Pastor Georgia Stevens, Pastor Lovie Moore, who stood up with over 40 years of ministry.

So it is where women have not been acknowledged in the past, and sometimes it's based upon denomination.

But as far as the African-American church, we do recognize that there are some who are still here, still serving, still pastoring.

And you call the names of several who are still laboring.

We, as African-American men, we do recognize, we do salute, and it's just not something that we put off to the side as secondary.

And, so I appreciate you bringing that point up.

- You know, as you talk about that, some things that we may not always want to recognize, that the African American woman was a better reader, writer, and some of the male pastors who pastor could not read the Bible, could not prepare their sermons, and there was a woman preparing it.

And we don't always talk about that.

When you go over the history of the African-American church, you had some great women who were behind the scenes who were helping men.

And even in the back in the day when we would have the readers, and the pastor wasn't reading the Bible, it was the women reading the Bible.

He would say, read.

And they would start reading.

And then he would just, he would just repeat the word that they said and then share from it.

And so I think we have to fully recognize that, that the African-American woman has immensely, immensely helped the African-American church.

And can not be discredited.

And I know we do celebrate— Man, I was so glad when Bishop Marc Neal put that together with the women coming together to celebrate women, because if we do not celebrate women, it will also cause a void in the church where we start to seem like we have no love for women and it's just male dominated.

And we recognize in Christ he called all of us.

And I know we got some denominational challenges and things, but I won't start a war up here.

But, but, but, but he called all of us.

He used Deborah in the Old Testament.

There was the prophetess Anna in the New Testament.

We can start talking about some women who went, talked and shared and other men came, even had the woman at the well who brought a whole city of men to Jesus.

So women have always been (unintelligible).

And don't forget who came to the tomb first.

- That's right.

- It was the women who came first.

- You're absolutely, absolutely correct.

We do have to celebrate the women who are in ministry.

I am so thankful that I belong to a denomination that has always opened its doors to women ministers.

I shall never forget I was a Woman's Day speaker in California, and they had had an earthquake, and a Baptist church was worshiping with the Amy Zion Church, and I was there Women's Day speaker.

And after I finished, the Baptist minister got up and he said, “It took an earthquake of God for me to see a woman in the pulpit.” And this wasn't that many years ago, and I'm like, “A woman in the pulpit?” I was shocked.

He had never seen a woman in a pulpit.

- So one of the things that I feel as a, I’m going to use this as a Black man in the Black church.

That we know there is— So that, as my brother said that, depending upon which denomination you're a part of, there are people that will accept women in ministry and won't.

Our denomination as Pam said, we accept women in ministry.

We speak, we lift up women.

And in spaces where people are degrading women in the church, I have to speak up and let them know that there would be no church if it was not for the woman.

Because if we delete all of the women from the Church... Hello?

Somebody.

Where would the church be?

Because in our congregations the women are holding up our churches with no slight to the men, but the women are holding up our churches.

And so we have to create a culture where we speak truth to power and we lift up the women in our church.

- I think we also see, you know, a lot of the foundational ministries within churches in terms of... In terms of a church is prayer ministry.

We know oftentimes women are central to the prayer ministry.

I know Bishop Hampton talked about the readers in the church.

So my mother taught me how to read on the King James Version.

I mean, you know, that was in the day before the message translation came out.

So if you learned how to read from the King James, you pretty much learned how to read.

But I'm so glad that you all mentioned that and the impact.

I know from experience with especially, those women in ministries back let's say in the 50s, in the 60s that it often was a struggle because they were not supported.

But I'm so glad to see that those trends have really changed.

We're going to mention one more aspect before we get into our Q&A.

And if you have questions, you can continue to submit your cards.

We'll pick them up and we'll get to as many of them as we can.

One of the things I wanted to ask the panelists as, as we conclude this portion.

When we talk about, again, the African-American church, looking ahead, what do you see as the role of the African-American church in the future and opportunities for the church to increase and also leverage its impact in the community and government and civic life?

- Well, since I'm a big mouth, I think that in the last 50, 70 years that we've come a long ways, we've come a long, long ways.

And we have much more to go.

But we have to really reach out to people of all color.

God made us all.

Where government is concerned, and all of the other things that we face every day should be a great part of our life every day, because we did and can't do it alone.

We need the help of you all.

We need the help of those that you know and those that are leaders in your church.

Don't— Listen, let me tell you, speak to those people.

They paid the price When you pass them you're missing your blessing.

So be sure and the next— This year and from then on, make sure that you touch somebody that needs your help.

Somebody that others may not think so, but God is watching all of us.

He knows your thoughts.

I can't fail to say that to you, so you will think that way and make him a part of your life.

That be number one.

He's over anything and everybody, wherever you go.

So let's do this.

And that's one of my things that the past 40 and 50 years may I say this, Reverend?

We've marched from High Street in the 30s, there were no cars.

Mr.

Matthew and some others that was there all the time.

And he was the one that could get a loan on Akron Savings right on the corner there.

And he marched and we didn't think about it we got tired, we weren't tired.

I heard my husband say at that time he was playing ball.

And he said, I told them I was (unintelligible).

Was so late getting there, whatever.

His parents told him say God has brought us this far and we marching on up there where the new building is.

And this is the Wesley Temple that we are sitting in today.

So we have a great role to play.

Let these children see us and great leaders and they will become greater leaders.

Thank you.

- Looking ahead.

- This is such a good— We start to think about the future of the African-American church and the road.

We recognize that we sit in a time where we see so many generations together.

And therefore, as we just heard, we got gotta grab from the wisdom of the wise and then we gotta grab the young because they got the strength and put it together and make an impact and inroads.

And we can't do what some have done in our African-American churches is that we're going to wait till they get old.

And then we’ll start using them.

We gotta now turn around and grab our 12 year olds and 13 year olds, 15 year olds, 19 and 20, and start getting them involved now, not just in the children's ministry, but in the ministry, because if we don't train them and develop them and push them not only to be pastors or deacons or musicians, singers, but also to be senators and also to be lawyers and doctors as they done.

Because we gotta keep showing entrepreneurs how do we build them?

How do we develop them?

Because if we don't do that, as we talk about, we’re going to lose them, the world is grabbing them.

Right?

Society is trying to pull them and we recognize the education pipeline, and we recognize that they're looking at third grade test scores and developing prison systems and saying, oh, if this child doesn't do well in school by this age, we going to make money on what's called jail.

They recognize they're going to have resources that they're going to gain from.

So if we don't start grabbing them and doing a Jesus type ministry, we're not waiting until your qualified.

We're going to grab you and qualify you.

Jesus grabbed 12 unarmed men and he started working with us.

He said, I'm going to make you into something.

And we got to start grabbing, say, we're going to make you into something and push them on forward.

- Amen, absolutely.

- And I think that, you know, church is about to really pop off here, I'm telling you.

So we are going to transition into our Q&A just because we have so many good questions.

And I want to make sure we get to as many as we can here.

So I want to start with this question, it says that, I think that... Non-Black churches can learn a lot from the panel this evening.

Can you talk about ways how you collaborate with churches of all colors.

- So I am a member of the Ohio Council of Churches.

I'm on their board and that is, churches from different denominations across Ohio.

We get together twice a year to talk about how we can do ministries within our local congregations, as well as how we're able to come together.

And so a lot of the ideals from when we talk together, I come back here and have conversations with other churches that are, you know, that are within our denomination and outside of our denomination.

I do know that we have just recently did a methodist, Pan-Methodist coalition where all of the Methodist Churches, whether you're Black Methodist or White Methodist came together here at Wesley Temple to start talking about how can we bridge that gap?

Because on Sunday mornings we're segregated.

So how can we now come together to be able to do ministry?

And it was a great time together because you got to be intentional.

You have to be intentional about saying, hey, we can have the tough discussions.

We can have those discussions, but it's time for us to be able to come together to make a greater impact in our community.

- If I believe, forward for for years that we have attempted to do what you just stated or to answer that question directly.

And years ago, Knute Larson and Pastor Ron Fowler, they spearheaded a program, if I could use that common vernacular where pastors would come together across denomination and racial lines.

And that has continued even now with Love Akron, and Kemp Boyd running that under, under his leadership.

We are being very intentional is just going to be pastors doing it intentionally and taking away the fear of what the congregation is going to say.

And I think that the members of the congregation from both sides can help that pastor by giving them that comfortability in support, that if they invite (unintelligible) to come in, they won't look at him cross-eyed.

And then if I invite someone to come in, my congregation will look at that pastor cross-eyed.

We will be supportive because there are a few churches that are becoming more interracial.

And so we are appreciative to that because, as you just said, Christianity is the most segregated hour on Sunday morning.

But we're all going to heaven.

Man, what does goin to look like?

- The next question we have here it says, government reaches out to the church community as a way to garner support and give community aid and facilitate peace.

Does the church actively engage in policy development?

- That's a great question.

I think, yes, there are conversations that we try to have and discussions, whether it's with city council listening on our local level.

Some of us are meeting on other governmental boards or governors boards.

Some of us have served, and I know I served with our Secretary of State of Ohio or his board, and we're trying to talk about different things, because, again, there has to be representation.

And if we don't hold them to the fire, then they're not going to think about us until as we’ve already heard when they need a vote to say it up.

So now we gotta say, okay, what are our policies, what are concerns?

And we have to remove that myth that because we are in Christ, we don't care about politics.

But while I'm on this earth, I'm going to impact all it.

And politics is one of those areas.

- Absolutely.

I have a question here.

It says, how has redlining contributed to the development of the Black church?

So I have an answer.

I'm going to let you go first, though, Pam.

- Well my thought originally was, I don't know about the development of the Black church, But I know a red line can destroy a church.

You know, I look around here this used to be a neighborhood.

Houses all around this church.

And when they put in that freeway, a lot of our homes were taken.

And now the freeway is not even being used, you know?

So I don't know how it helps, but I know how it destroys.

- So you touched on a really important point there, because when we look at redlining and urban renewal, we know that, first of all, there were neighborhoods where Blacks could not build churches.

And redlining prevented those things from happening.

But then, yes, urban renewal like the Innerbelt with the Opportunity Park neighborhood, with Grant Washington neighborhood, we did a forum earlier in the year about urban renewal in Akron.

And when those projects went through and the neighborhoods were displaced, a lot of times people only looked at the houses that were removed, but houses of worship were removed, schools were removed, communities were removed.

So, it's interesting when you look at those trends, when communities and with it, of course, churches were raised, you saw that those numbers went down.

So, really good question.

We have another one here.

It says, what is the church doing to minister to those who do not come into the church building, specifically young people?

- Great question.

Great question.

And I think what we're working on, many of us, and it is how do we build spaces for them, not inside of buildings, but in areas where they are, right?

And your gathering spaces, some are doing social media, some are doing community things, some are doing coffee shops.

But the key is what we realized with young people is you have to be willing to have discussions and not just lecture.

And so those of us who are willing to have conversations and will not be offended when they challenge our beliefs and challenge why we read this book and why do you believe this and why don't you do this.

So now we open up dialog and this dialog is starting to build relationship that then starts to help all of us get better.

Because what I found for myself is it helped me concretize my belief system stronger, but it also helped me understand the various views that people are having and the whys they're having.

So I think we're building spaces where we saying, come on in, or let's go meet here so we can talk well on college campuses and high school and middle school, different places where we can talk and let them feel free to share and to discuss.

- Absolutely.

I have a, question is, how do you think the Black church and its traditional role as the nucleus of our community can be recharged, reassigned, or recommitted?

We want it to be a necessity and not an option.

- Life is making it a necessity.

Christ is making it a necessity.

People are not valuing it as a necessity, because they have not made it personal.

Right now, the church, the Black church, the church as a whole is faced with so many challenges of outside organization that have a form of godliness that have drawn our young black men and women into because it appears more to the blackness, but not into their spirituality.

So what we have to continue to do is don't (unintelligible), don't pray.

Maintain our consistency in what our foundational beliefs are.

We have made adjustments and Dr.

Hampton was alluding to that and making statement that the Black church has become so relaxed to be, to appeal to our young people and the community.

Pastors only wear ties half the time in church, we don't wear robes anymore.

We wear tennis shoes.

We got big screens.

We look more like the community because we want to be community oriented and draw people from the community in and, and especially young people.

But there's a foundation that we cannot be removed from.

And there's a tradition and a basic form that we cannot be shaken from.

And unfortunately, even though like Paul said, I become all things to all men that I might win some.

So people have gone about to establish their own way of righteousness, not submit themselves to the righteousness of God.

And so they use the church as a target, throw darts at until it's a crisis in their life, and the Lord is allowing crisises to come to bring us back to him.

And guess what?

Things are going to get worse.

There's going to be a great falling away from the church.

And so we've already seen a great fall in the way.

Men have become lovers of themselves.

We see that taking place when it's going to get worse, because God, Jehovah, is not the God of this world Satan is.

And what he's done is he's going about to bring about division amongst us.

But we cannot be ignorant of Satan devices.

We're the church.

If there's one thing that we ought to know is that Jesus is real.

He's truth.

He's the only way.

That's all and we can't change that.

And that's what needs to be the common needle and thread that keeps us together, no matter who we are, what denomination we are, what our skin color or ethnicity.

That's the common needle and thread that keeps us together.

They come hell or high water, we ain't going nowhere.

- And you know, I also think there's right now in today's climate, is an excellent opportunity for the Black church.

There are things that our schools can't talk about anymore.

There are things that our corporations can't talk about anymore because they're afraid of losing money.

But the Black church can still talk about it.

We can still talk about diversity, equity and inclusion.

We can still model that.

We can still show that.

And so I think you know, even though the climate in the government may not be what we want it to be, it's an opportunity for us to move forward.

- This is a new day.

It's a new system.

You watched Ohio Edison just to see the light, to read by, to do this and to do that have gone higher.

So we have to face the new day as it's a new time for all of us to get together, not go a part, not do this, do what we can do for one another.

We have the know how to do it, the education.

And let's help these education help others because that is when they can believe that we care.

You know a lot of time we talk.

We have a what we call an education system, scholarships that we give from the University of Akron for 39, it will be 40 years.

Next year would be the part of the year for college for kids.

Some of those kids have grown up and you'd be surprised.

I had one student that came in today.

I don't know if she left yet, but she was here.

She said, remember when I got my scholarship?

I told you I was going to be a teacher, here I am.

Those are the kind of things that you want to hear, children.

Not that you had to do this and do the other.

We all like food and we all like everything else, but we need to think about our youth and the way that they can make a living, help them to get scholarships and help them to get jobs.

- We have time for two or maybe hthree more questions.

Here's a pertinent one.

It says that, how do we, as churches, remind our mothers and fathers of their importance of them being part of the church?

- That's a great— I think we got to just make sure we're talking about it.

I think goes back to (unintelligible) was talking about here is the importance for us speaking on things that others may not speak on.

Now, a lot of times we do recognize the importance of government and the importance of education.

However, we cannot forsake the importance of home.

Right?

So we recognize the importance of church.

Amen.

But we ought to talk about the importance of home.

Training of children, training of development being there and then the, the church is coming alongside our community should be coming alongside because of what first should be starting at the home level and we need to help parents have the skills.

Right?

So sometimes we have to go back again and start reteaching things that our parents learned through experience.

And so now we might need some of the mothers to come back and talk about cooking again.

Some of the mothers that come back talk about taking care of fathers, come back and teach about discipline.

And I know we’re getting in the way from discipline, but if we don't discipline in the home, because believe me, our society shall.

And so we gotta come back and start talking about what discipline look like.

How do we train them, how do we develop, how do we provide opportunities?

So we got to come back and reteach some things that our parents learned through experience, through the community.

- Absolutely.

- Reverend Greer.

You are an example of what we see in those that have been taught it all through life.

And look where God has put you and he's still putting you there because you care in his Word.

Remember, when you care in God's Word, he'll carry you wherever you need to go.

You don't have to worry about (unknown) and all that.

He'll put you there and nobody can take you away.

- Absolutely.

- And we are very proud of you.

- Thank you ma'am.

Thank you.

Can we talk about— It's a, I have to ask this question because I love when pastors ask questions.

So, this is from a pastor.

I'm not going to say who, but he said, could you speak to the dual nature of the Black church, the seed of Black government and its spiritual nature?

So I'm going to let the pastors talk about this.

- Can you repeat the question?

- So could you speak to the dual nature of the Black church, the seed of Black government and its spiritual nature?

- That one has always been a challenging point because they've always said that the Black pastor need to remain in one capacity.

But because he has become more educated and diverse, he also is, or not to say he, we are as pastors, male and female are indulging in governmental areas of leadership as well.

So we have to be mindful about being in this world, but not of the world, but also understanding that God always operated in a trichotomist way.

Preach, Prophet, and King.

Israel always had a priest, a prophet, and a king.

A priest was the one who spoke to God on behalf of the people, the prophet who spoke to the people on behalf of God and the King was there to run or rule the civil affairs.

But so now we as pastors, we're operating in a trichotomist way as priest, prophet, and king for the people of God.

So that's where we're serving at right now, especially as we're becoming more educated and more learned.

So we're going to be in the politics because we're going to be a king right there.

And then we're going to serve as the priest and the prophet inside the house of God.

- And so this becomes a challenging thing.

This becomes a serious point that Bishop Neal has talked to us about because we understand the significance of being that prophet and that priest.

And now we have to realize the importance of making sure the people that God embraced and charge us to steward, we are providing them insight and wisdom into what's going on in the civic and political culture.

So we gotta start having those discussions where we're saying, hey, this bill is coming up, and here's the points of, I'm not going to tell you this is how you have to vote, but I want to let you understand what's on the ballot, right?

These are the candidates that are running.

Here's the pros and the cons to the counting.

Now you get the vote, but you gotta know the issues, right?

And so we gotta bring some clarity because if you've been like me in times past, you may read some stuff and have no clue of fully grasping it.

So now you're trying to find people.

And so the pastor has to then help by finding those who understand the bills and bring them in and say, hey, talk to us about issue one.

Talk to us about issue 25.

What's this?

Is this a renewal levy?

Is this a new thing?

Talk to us.

Why do we need to have this school, levy pass.

Like, we need to have those discussions so that now people understand not only the Word of God, but also understand the time we live in, because Peter says we should obey the ordinance of the land.

As long as those ordinances don't go against the Word of God.

So now I need to know the Word of God and the ordinance.

- Amen.

Excellent.

- Very good.

- I'm telling you, I'm enjoying myself here.

This is a good one for all of us here in the audience it says, How can we as citizens help facilitate more collaboration among our churches?

- And I would say, especially we as laypeople, talk to your pastor and say, there's a church right down the street from us.

Can we get together with them?

- Amen.

- It doesn't always have to be the pastor to initiate these program.

It could be us as laypeople to say, you know, and like here at Wesley Temple, we've always had a relationship with Holy Trinity Lutheran Church down the street where lately, both of our congregations are getting older and we don't do it as much.

But to say to our pastor, hey, you know what?

We may need to go down here and knock on their doors and say, let's get together.

- Amen.

- You know, so don't be afraid to have those conversations with your ministers, with your pastor, you can initiate it because you're out there in the community seeing what's going on.

- Thank you so much for saying that.

And can I just say, you know, help your pastor and I have to say this too.

You can't help your pastor when you're at home.

I'm just saying.

And you can't help them when you're just watching online.

Okay, okay.

Now I might be getting some people upset.

Let me move on.

I think we have time for this one last question.

We have, what impact did the Great Migration have on communities in this area and the areas that people left?

- I think that Great Migration— Well, you know, my parents came from the South, and they were in Alabama and Mississippi.

And as things and opportunities got better they were able to come up north and develop whole new life styles of living, and I think that what pushed us, because there was things already going on in the South in the midst of some hard times.

The African-American church was thriving and still pressing through and doing so.

But that migration pushed us up north and then now we started to make development.

And you see that greatly over the history of Akron.

A lot of people, Barberton area, a lot of people in this.

So it really has brung us up here and then is teaching us, going back to some of the things we've been talking about is the collaboration of coming together, because now I'm learning, oh, man, he got something.

She has something.

And now we're starting to pull back things together that helped our forefathers and foremothers get to where we are today.

And so I think it was a great thing pushing us forward.

Different experiences, different ideas that came from the south, came north, and then it started to branch out.

And we seen that over the history of Akron, even though there's been challenges with it.

- Yes.

- Absolutely.

I want to give Pastor Smith-Whitfield, you're the host here.

Can you give us one final word as we're talking about it.

Again, we've had a great panel, a great Q&A about the history and the impact of the African-American church.

What's your final word for us on that topic?

- So we are in the season of advent and advent brings hope.

And I believe that even though we have a long way to go, the Black church is still here.

The Black church is still making a great impact in our communities.

And each one of us in this room, if we just go out and be intentional about spreading that hope to this community and letting them know that we are here, no matter what will happen through injustices, we're still going to be here.

Through economic crisis, we're still going to be here.

And so it is amazing when all of God's children are able to come together.

We get excited about we're going to get to heaven, become together.

But we should all be able to come together right here and right now.

We have hope because hope is rising.

- Amen.

- Absolutely.

Well I, I cannot thank our panel enough.

Can you please help us again thank Bishop Marc Neal, Pastor Smith-Whitfield, Ms.

Pam Valentine, Dr.

Samuel Hampton, and Ms.

Ophelia Averitt.

Thank you to our panelists.

Absolutely.

When you have a panel of such great, esteemed figures, how could you not end it better with a standing ovation?

And we are so, so thankful to all of you and thankful to everyone here in our audience.

For those of you who have been with us over the course of our bicentennial year our Forgotten History Forum.

Again, we want to thank PBS Western Reserve.

If you have not before.

And I want to give a special thanks to their entire team and crew and their CEO, Natalie Pillsbury.

Natalie and I met and had a meeting probably about a year ago and we were talking about the possibility of collaborating in some form.

And it grew into the Forgotten History Forum series.

And PBS Western Reserve has done such a great service to our entire community and broadcasting this entire series.

We're so thankful to them.

And of course, our signature sponsor of First Energy Foundation.

All of the Forgotten History forums will be broadcast on PBS, and you can find them there on the PBS Western Reserve site.

You can find them on YouTube, and this one again will be released sometime in early 2026.

For those of you who are also not aware, when you came in, you should have seen on the entry way table about our bicentennial time capsule.

So, the next one is going to open up in 25 years, and everyone in this room will be, you know, alive and kicking.

So make sure that you submit something to be in the next time capsule.

We were going back and forth between it being a 25 year time capsule and a 50 year time capsule.

And so, I was asked about, you know, either I said, well, in 50 years, I probably won't care as much, so let's make it 25.

And so again, take one of the sheets there with you.

You will have an opportunity to submit your items, letters, historic photos in the time capsule.

You can drop them off at the Summit County Historical Society at the Perkins Mansion.

And again, we are so glad to have had all of you with us.

Please give yourselves a hand and again, thank you for coming to the Forgotten History Forum.

And we are dismissed and you can also remember to attend church on Sunday.

♫ We’ve come this far by faith ♫ ♫ Leaning on the Lord ♫ ♫ Trusting in His holy word ♫ ♫ He never fail me yet ♫ ♫ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♫ ♫ Can’t turn around ♫ ♫ We’ve come this far by faith ♫ Everybody help me say, ♫ Come this far by faith ♫ ♫ Leaning on the Lord ♫ ♫ Oh, trust ♫ ♫ Trusting in his holy word ♫ He'll never fail you yet.

♫ He never failed me yet ♫ ♫ Oh!

Oh, oh, oh ♫ ♫ Can't turn around ♫ ♫ We’ve come this far by faith ♫ Just a little bit now, ♫ Come this far by faith ♫ ♫ Yeah ♫ ♫ Leaning on the Lord ♫