Civic service makes friends of churches
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LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Nine years ago, the pastor of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles was inclined to view Latter-day Saints with mistrust. Today, he views them as friends, and on Dec. 8, the Church was among the first recipients of what is to be an annual "LoveJoy Award."
The difference was made in 1992, said Keith Atkinson, Church director of public affairs in Los Angeles, the year that civil disturbances nearly paralyzed the city. "An inspired stake president and many members loaded up cars and drove in a caravan down to south central Los Angeles where stores had been burned to the ground," he said. "One of the places they stopped was the First African Methodist Episcopal Church. The minister there was shocked, because he had thought Mormons hated blacks."
But the pastor, the Rev. Cecil Murray, soon changed his impression, and the newly formed friendship led to more than 40,000 pounds of food being donated from Latter-day Saint resources for distribution to the needy through the First A.M.E. Church.
In the intervening years, Brother Atkinson said, the Rev. Murray and his flock have discovered that the First A.M.E. Church has historical ties to Latter-day Saints.
For one thing, it was founded by Biddy Mason who had been a member of the Mormon colony that originally settled San Bernardino in 1851. Originally a slave, she gained her freedom and became one of the best known and wealthiest African Americans in the region. When Brigham Young called the Latter-day Saints back to the territory to assist in the Utah war, she stayed behind, and thus lost contact with the Church. In the 1870s, she wrote the man who started the First A.M.E. Church in Philadelphia and offered to donate property for a branch of the church in Los Angeles if he would start it.
That historical tie helped the friendship between the First A.M.E. Church and Latter-day Saints blossom in the 1990s.
Another historical tie, Brother Atkinson said, said is Ralph's Grocery Store.
"George Albert Ralph was also a member of the San Bernardino colony," he said. "He pioneered several aspects of the grocery business in California. It was hardship in those days for the farmers to bring their goods into market. He provided stabling for horses and a place for farmers to rest overnight before going back to their farms."
The Ralph's Supermarket chain thrives today in California and, like The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has been a benefactor in the First A.M.E. Church's food distribution program.
All three of those entities were represented Dec. 8 as Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve received the LoveJoy Award from First A.M.E. Church. It was Elder Hales who had come in 1992 to oversee the release of the 40,000 pounds of food. Donations have continued since then; this year The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated some 13,000 pounds for the First A.M.E. food distribution program.
It is for that reason that Elder Hales received the award for the Church, which was among six "Shepherds' Award" recipients in the LoveJoy program. In addition, public service, corporate, labor and media awards were given.
The award was named after Aaron LoveJoy, a member of the First A.M.E.. Church, who suffered a fatal heart attack in 1998 while working to help feed the needy.
In receiving the award, Elder Hales expressed gratitude to the Rev. Murray and all involved in the program and said how grateful Latter-day Saints are to be involved, Brother Atkinson said.
The pastor thanked the Church for having been involved since 1992 and gave a history about Biddy Mason and George Ralph, Brother Atkinson said.
Dignitaries attending the awards presentation included Mayor James Kenneth Hahn of Los Angeles and Sheriff Lee Baca of Los Angeles County.
Brother Atkinson said that when Sheriff Baca spoke he expressed gratitude for the presence of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, adding that he had heard a lot of its leaders speak, but that he knew the minute Elder Hales rose to address the gathering that God's hand was in the endeavor to bring the two churches together for the important work. He went on to talk about the young people who serve as missionaries for the Church and the sacrifices they make, adding that his own son, a Church member, interrupted his schooling at BYU to serve a mission for the Church.
"He said his son is the finest man he knows, and that he got that from the Church," Brother Atkinson said.
