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HONORING TURNER CHAPEL AME CHURCH
______
HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON
of mississippi
in the house of representatives
Monday, June 14, 2021
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a remarkable church, Turner Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
In 1890, Rev. C.E. Jones, four men and two women decided that there should be an A.M.E. Church in Greenwood, Mississippi. Led by the Spirit of God, they began to worship under a brush harbor somewhere in the vicinity of what is now the Greenwood Post Office. During the next few years, the church began to increase in membership, and they decided that a building was needed. One of the members came up with the idea of utilizing a dwelling house which was eventually purchased. Rev. Jones and the members decided to name the church Turner Chapel for Bishop Henry McNeil Turner, Presiding Prelate, who was elected and consecrated the fifteenth Bishop of the Connectional A.M.E. Church.
There were many leaders of the church but possibly one of the most memorable was Rev. D.L. Tucker. Under Rev. D.L. Tucker's administration, a new spirit seemed to have risen. Pews were purchased, and the pulpit was redesigned with divided chancellor rails. Many new members were added to Turner Chapel Church's roll. Rev. Tucker served as pastor during the height of the civil rights era. During his time as pastor, he became the first president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in the Mississippi Delta. He organized voter registration drives and often had rallies at Turner Chapel.
Rev. Tucker was the first person in Leflore County, MS to pass the literacy test to vote. After that accomplishment, while he was marching with supporters, dogs were put on them by law enforcement to deter their desire to vote. Rev. Tucker walks with a limp today because of that attack. This incident spurred Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to write President John Kennedy to send protection to Mississippi for Blacks. As a comrade of Medgar Evers, Rev. Tucker spoke with him before he was assassinated in Jackson, MS by Byron Dela Beckwith in 1963. Just as he was getting things together for the church and the citizens of Greenwood, he received a call in the middle of the night in which the voice on the other end said, ``We just killed that N----Medgar Evers; you will be next.'' His life was subsequently threatened; due to death threats from the Ku Klux Klan, the A.M.E. Church moved him to a church in Bermuda. Rev. Tucker returned to Mississippi in 2014 and is recognized in the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum for his contributions to the movement. Many of the future leaders of the church continued in Rev. Tucker's footsteps by being advocates for civil rights.
Turner Chapel is blessed to have Rev. Dr. Alice H. Crenshaw as their pastor. The visions she brought to the church are exceptional. Rev. Crenshaw brought back life to the church because now they have bible study once again and prayer meetings. She has gotten more members involved, especially men with the business of the church. Three months after Rev. Crenshaw's arrival, the pandemic happened, and everything shut down. However, even the pandemic did not stop her from pastoring. She instilled in the members to continue having their regular programs, official board meetings, bible study, even in the pandemic, over Zoom meetings. In April of 2020, she was able to get food distribution into the Greenwood community in which the church has drive-by pick-up of food boxes for those in need. In December 2020, she was able to get a contract with a vendor. Now Turner Chapel is one of the largest sites of food box distribution to area churches, the Greenwood community, throughout Leflore County and beyond. Rev. Crenshaw's vision includes helping the church get an adult daycare center, as well as acquiring the property adjacent to the church for an Elderly Independent group home.
Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Turner Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church for its longevity and dedication to serving the community.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 103
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