Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Let me take a moment to welcome you to “The Temple” as we lovingly call this household of faith, where our theme is “It’s a Family Affair”.  And this theme we mean in the deepest sense of the word.

Jesus in Matthew 22:37-39 declared that all the sacred laws and every prophetic word uttered by the prophets of God can be summed up in two simple commands – to love God with all your heart, mind and soul and to love your neighbor in the same manner in which we love ourselves.

In defining who we are and what we do and the essence of our faith at Union Temple Baptist Church, the first word that comes to my mind is love.  The history of Union Temple and our tenets of faith place love as the word which best describes the quality of our church and the character of the fellowship which I serve as Pastor.  Jesus said in Matthew, the 25th chapter that in the day of assize, the day of judgment, that we will be judged by God by the love that we show for the least among us – the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers and those in prison.  .

I am very pleased that love for “the least” is celebrated and elevated as a primary focus at “the Temple”..

Some several years ago a group of unshaven men, smelling of alcohol and wearing dirty, odorous clothes came to our morning worship requesting to see the pastor.  After I completed the day’s sermon, I met with them whereupon they informed me that they were hungry and homeless and needed some assistance.  We met their needs and they left.  The next Sunday, they returned to inform us that they, in fact, were not derelicts but actually seminary students from Virginia Union University sent to Washington, DC to see how churches would receive “undesirable” churchgoers.  They indicated that they had attempted to see the pastor at 11 different churches only to be turned away and that Union Temple was the only church that received them.  They presented us with a plaque, which hangs in the church office now, to constantly remind us to “beware of how we entertain strangers”.  Our love for God’s Children, all of God’s Children is not narrow, parochial and provincial but is universal in its scope.  Union Temple is truly a “Family Affair”.  .

But in order to show this type of love for the human family, we must love ourselves first.  Thus, Union Temple is an Africentric Church.  What does that mean?  The structural forms – the 30 ft. by 19 ft mural depicting the Lord’s Supper with a Black Christ and 12 Black Disciples from our history does not make it Africentric.  The African artwork, the drums, the shout and the dance do not make it Africentric.  What makes it Africentric is that the fundamental doctrines and dogma are based on an African worldview and theological framework.  In a world that has conditioned Black people to hate themselves, Union Temple provides a wholesome environment where individuals can comfortably affirm who they are rather than deny their identity..

So throughout my pastorate, Union Temple has kept the commandment to love at the forefront of its preaching and practice.  And guess what – God loves you and so do we!!  Be Blessed!!

Lovingly submitted by

Pastor Willie F. Wilson and Co-Pastor Mary L. Wilson