A church ponders its ability to serve if light rail runs in front of it
Senior Pastor and church co-founder Dr. E. Mae Beecham greets Cindy Devonish following a recent Sunday service. “It’s important that people understand our lives are about others,” she said of the ministers who serve Faith Tabernacle.
Photos and story by David Pierini, Editor
On a steamy Sunday morning inside a brick church behind the Kemp Dairy plant, a small group of worshipers listen to Angela Scott as she leads them through a Bible lesson testing faith through fire.
A ruthless king tied up three men and ordered soldiers to push them into a blazing furnace. The three men refused to worship him, instead putting their faith in God. They walked out of the flames unharmed.
“What is your testimony showing others that you’re going to survive?” Scott, an assistant pastor at Faith Tabernacle Gospel Fellowship International, asks as she recalls Daniel, Chapter 3. “Are they seeing your faith and trust? Are they seeing you standing in the midst, or are you on the outskirts running from the test?
“What are they seeing as you experience the fire?”
A few days prior, a small group from the church stood before a committee of the Minneapolis City Council, showing strength and fighting for the survival of a church that has stood for 37 years, helping countless people walk through their own fires.
When Blue Line project planners drew a light rail route that traveled down Fourth Street and curved in front of the church to continue down 21st Avenue, they thought they had spared Faith Tabernacle from acquisition and destruction.
What they didn’t understand was how light rail, as currently planned, could hinder the church and Hawthorne neighborhood pillar from carrying out its multifaceted mission.
Faith Tabernacle Gospel Fellowship International opened its doors 37 years ago in what used to be a VFW hall.
During the public hearing on Sept. 12 before the Climate and Infrastructure Committee, church leaders listed the ways a light rail track could cut them off from the neighborhood and restrict access to programs vital to residents and churchgoers.
Along with Sunday services and Bible study, the church provides funeral services free of charge (a hearse and funeral procession would have no place to park), HIV/STI testing, substance abuse counseling, host expungement sessions, housing stabilization, after-school homework help, family counseling, and a food shelf; name a need, and the many ministers of the church try to offer help.
“These services are provided in kind because of the love we have for the community,” said Associate Pastor Anthony Lewis. “We are known as the church that provides these services, not the church that used to. We need the support of (the City Council) so that we can continue to meet the needs of the community. Don’t let them railroad us or Blue Line us. God bless you.”
Associate Pastor Anthony Lewis asked city leaders to not allow light rail to “Blue Line us .”
The church is nestled behind the Kemp plant and has no parking lot. Churchgoers park on 21st Avenue; light rail tracks would eliminate those spaces. The church’s two back doors or emergency exits essentially face 21st, so those doors could not be used. In addition to hearse parking, Metro Mobility would have no place to drop off and pick up older members who rely on the service for church.
An usher sings and sways as the church’s praise team leaders the congregation in song.
Project planners have heard complaints all along the 13.4-mile extension, which starts in Brooklyn Park and travels through Crystal and Robbinsdale to the Target Field station downtown.
Faith Tabernacle leaders say they had yet to learn that transportation officials had changed an early section to route the train down 21st until last October when they received a flier about an upcoming meeting.
According to Scott, project planners have visited with church leaders twice and seemed to seriously consider the challenges light rail would present to the church.
Faith Tabernacle leaders aren’t opposed to relocating so long as they can stay in the neighborhood.
“Realistically, with all the people we serve – low-income and struggling – who's going to want to come here?” Scott asks as she stands near the Minister’s Entrance, one of the back doors that opens up to 21st Avenue.
In a statement addressed to North News, Project Director Nick Thompson said light rail should not just prevent displacement but also lift businesses and organizations, like the church, to a better position to serve.
“That’s what we aim to accomplish for Faith Tabernacle by working creatively with partners both within and beyond the light rail project,” Thompson said. “We understand the challenges with their current location and how light rail could compound them. We will continue to work with Faith Tabernacle and all our partners to make sure this community pillar has the support they need to continue serving the community for many years to come.”
Beacon of Light
The church was founded in 1987 by Dr. Floyd R. Beecham and his wife, Dr. E. Mae Beecham after they purchased a vacant VFW and cigarette-smoke-stained bingo hall.
People questioned Floyd Beecham about the odd corner building located in an area where drug dealers and prostitutes could operate away from the lights of West Broadway Avenue. Beecham was sure this was the place a church needed to be.
Associate Pastor Kerri Lewis greets and hugs a churchgoer before the start of service.
“I’ve seen a lot of things happen on this corner,” said Jewelean Davison, an assistant pastor and Mae Beecham’s sister. “This was prostitution alley. While we were trying to clean this place up for a church, people were trying to get into cars. Oh my gosh, there was a lot of praying going on. We was praying while we was cleaning the carpet and walls.
“A lot of people don’t know this, but the pastors (the Beecham’s) tried a lot of other places to get a church started. When he was led to this place, he said, ‘This is it.’ And he came in with a mind to work.”
Services were packed, but the Beechams felt called to extend the church’s reach to the neighborhood across 21st Avenue.
Mae Beecham, now 80, said the programs the church now provides were part of her husband’s vision. He passed away in 2018, and a year later, the city approved renaming the section of 4th Street that runs from West Broadway to 21st in his honor.
The church opened its doors to provide an early home to the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council and, for years, hosted neighborhood festivals and National Night Out. At the height of the AIDS crisis, the church started providing HIV testing and offered tutoring and incentives to children to stay in school.
The church has a roster of assistant ministers, many of whom are trained to provide a host of services, including mental health and addiction counseling that includes peer recovery training. Floyd Beecham passed away in 2018, and a year later, the city approved the section of 4th Street that runs from West Broadway to 21s, which was named in his honor.
“The things we do have been free for all these years,” Mae Beecham said. “We gave our life toward this. We have recognized we are here for a reason.”
More than 500 people have availed themselves of church programs this year alone. Associate Pastor Lewis wonders if the church has to leave and who will fill that gap.
Assistant Pastor Angela Scott addressed the Climate and Infrastructure Committee on Sept. 12.
A shadow is ‘just a shadow’
Lewis continued the message about tested faith in the 11 a.m. service. He quoted Psalm 23:4: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
“Shadow of Death” might sound ominous, but Lewis reminds worshipers that fear brings the shadow to life. To Lewis, a shadow is not real. “It’s just a shadow,” he said.
Lewis asks worshipers to embrace life’s trials and tribulations. Tribulations are a blessing because they provide experience and patience, he said. Don’t push away the challenges, he continued. Learn from them.
“Oh Lord, they want to run the Blue Line down here,” Lewis said, “What are we going to do? Tribulations. God wants us to show how we are going to stand as a church.”
After a long pause, Lewis smiled and said, “Choo choo.”