With
Wholehearted Gratitude, Remembering
The
Late Reverend Rose Jones Wilson
Recently, a former clergy colleague
with whom I worked while serving as Assistant Pastor at Emmanuel Baptist Church
in Brooklyn, New York transitioned to eternal life. The late Reverend Rose Jones Wilson faithfully
honored her call to ordained ministry, expanded her personal integrity through
study and preparation, served diligently on ministerial staff and exemplified faithfulness
in fulfilling her priestly duties as a wife, mother and grandmother. Although she was an ordained clergyperson and
rightly earned admission into one of the learned and professional classes, Rose
never assumed she had mastered Christian discipleship. As she strove to develop personally and grow
spiritually, she made continual Christian education, persistent practice of
spiritual disciplines and increasing acquisition of the mind, heart and
character of Christ as hallmarks of her ministry. The recipient of her wise counsel borne of
her African American Virginian foundation, decades of professional experience
as an employee of the City of New York and her interior, spiritual life, I
personally admired and closely witnessed Rose’s evolution from a private
disciple to lay leader to an effective minister who encouraged and empowered
her contemporaries to persist in Christian discipleship though they were in the
late afternoon and early evening of life.
The evangelist, St. Matthew, in the
twenty-fifth chapter of his Gospel, shares “The Parable of the Talents.” This ancient and sacred story ends with two
faithful servants receiving just rewards for their obedience, ingenuity, tireless
labors and willingness to maximize the talents which their master graciously
gave them. He welcomes them with a
magnanimous greeting. “Well done, good
and faithful servant! You have been
faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”
(Matthew 25:23 NIV) The traditional and historic Christian faith declares
Almighty God said those words to Rose upon her transition. To the best of her ability, Rose lived with
the undivided intention of hearing those words from the Lord. In her holistic ministry as wife, mother,
grandmother and clergyperson, she enlarged her talents and gifts as
circumstances warranted and served faithfully to honor and glorify God.
When Rose and I first met, she was
serving as a Deaconess. Within a few years
and with pastoral leadership, the Emmanuel congregation voted to henceforth
include woman in its ordination of deacons.
Accordingly, she was a member of the first class of woman deacons. She announced her call to ordained ministry
shortly afterwards. Rose felt God’s summons
as she neared retirement after a long and successful career with the City of
New York. Approaching the midafternoon of
life, understandably, Rose could have turned her attention to living an easier,
softer and simpler life. A return to her
native state, purchase of a forever house and renewed pursuit of hobbies and
leisure activities would fill her days. However,
Rose did not board that ship to Tarshish.
Instead, she listened attentively to God’s call and immediately
obeyed. Admirably, Rose do not try to
equate her personal piety, work experience and service as a lay leader with preparation
for ordained ministry. She also did not
use her age and stage in life as excuses to short circuit the ordination
process. Rather, she surmounted her
reservations and fears and enrolled at New York Theological Seminary where she
eventually earned the Master of Divinity degree, the professional credential
for ordained clergypersons.
Seeking integrity of call and ministry,
Rose prepared herself for success in ministry which she attained as she committed
herself to lifelong theoretical, experiential and relational learning. Anyone transitioning into law, medicine,
business or academe would have to obtain the requisite degree to enter any of
those professions. As it relates to
ministry, misguidedly, many persons believe the sincerity of their beliefs, strength
of their emotions and personal background and previous work experience suffice
as preparation for ministry. With such
meager and incongruent requirements, should the substantial decline in American
preaching surprise anyone? Pulpits in
the United States resound with commercially lucrative clichés, low grade pop
psychology and motivational speaking.
Nonetheless, Rose did not fall into that quicksand. An assessment of her preaching and teaching
in Christian Education would yield proper and due adherence to expository and
biblically based instruction. Moreover,
Rose prioritized a disciple’s transformation towards Christ’s character and
growth in his or her authentic and personal ability to confess Christ as Lord
and Savior in words and lifestyle.
Within her specific work with the Prime
Time Ministry at Emmanuel Baptist Church, she fulfilled the priestly ordinance given
to Aaron, his sons and the priestly tribe several millennia ago. The Lord commanded them to keep the lamps,
adjacent to the curtain that shields the Ark of the Covenant of the Law, burning
in the Tent of Meeting from evening till morning. (Exodus 27:21 NIV) Rose
understood her ministry as facilitating disciples’ desire to commune and
converse with Almighty God in the Tent of Meeting. Through doctrinal preaching and faithful
service, she kept oil in the lamps to light the pathway to Christ. The period of dusk to dawn represents the night
and darkness in people’s lives. Rose
insisted that an encounter with God is the beginning of individual healing and
resolution of personal challenges. Her
primary priestly duty was to ensure people could walk along a well-lit path to relate
to God.
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