The Final Call

‘True Soldiers Don't Retire’ - Rev. Willie Wilson’s work and mission continue

By Nisa Islam Muhammad -Staff Writer- | Last updated: Nov 9, 2019 - 7:24:37 PM

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WASHINGTON—Norma Perry was looking for a new church in the nation’s capital. Her neighbor recommended Union Temple Baptist Church, headed by Rev. Willie F. Wilson. It was close and convenient for her and her five children.

Rev. Willie F. Wilson

“I was in the seventh grade when my mother started taking us there,” her daughter Carol Blake told The Final Call. “I’ve been there ever since. Rev. Wilson had just became the pastor. I grew up in the church. I love that church because there is no judgement when you walk in the door. You can come any way you want. Gay, straight, Black, White, or Puerto Rican. You can wear what you want to wear. That’s because if you listen to Rev. Wilson’s sermons you will change yourself,” she said.

“He preaches so well and one of my favorite sermons’ was ‘If you show meat, you will get a dog.’ It was geared to the young girls. If you’re showing your legs and behind, if you’re coming here any kind of way, you will get a dog because that’s what dogs like.” She appreciates Rev. Wilson’s candor and deliverance of the message. “That same type of love and embracing has kept me there for nearly 50 years,” added Ms. Blake.

For almost half a century Rev. Willie F. Wilson, husband to Rev. Mary Wilson, has led the flock at Union Temple Baptist Church. His retirement was celebrated November 3 and he appointed his daughter Rev. Anika Wilson Brown as the new pastor.

He became pastor on February 25, 1973, with just 25 members in a small red church in the poorest ward of the nation’s capital. From that humble beginning the church moved to a building built from the ground, property around the corner and a congregation of 8,000.

Rev. Wilson’s journey has taken him through some of the city’s most significant historical events, including the political return of Mayor Marion Barry and the planning of the historic Million Man March in 1995 convened by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.

“In the early days of planning the Million Man March, there weren’t many organizations or churches helping,” Nation of Islam Attorney Abdul Arif Muhammad told The Final Call. “There were the Mid-Atlantic Regional Laborers, I was the Regional Minister at the time—and Rev. Willie Wilson and Union Temple. He was an early supporter based upon his longstanding support of Minister Farrakhan. That support brought him tremendous hostility internally (inside his church) and externally,” said Arif Muhammad.

Union Temple and Muhammad Mosque No. 4 home of the Mid-Atlantic Region of the Nation of Islam in D.C. began the work of organizing for the gathering which saw nearly two million Black men converge in the city to atone and accept responsibility for their lives and their families.

Abdul Khadir Muhammad has served as the Mid Atlantic Regional Minister since 1997 and has worked with Rev. Wilson for decades. “He’s a very friendly pastor. There’s many pastors that I’ve met and worked with since coming to D.C. He’s a great man. I met him when I first arrived and we’ve been brothers ever since,” he told The Final Call.

“When I need something, he’s always there and vice versa. Whenever we’ve worked on a project together, we’ve always looked out for each other. He’s a very good brother,” said Khadir Muhammad.

Cora Masters Barry, former first lady of D.C., and wife of Mayor Marion Barry has worked with Rev. Willie Wilson on a variety of projects including the Million Man March. She told The Final Call, “He’s a great man and has a great legacy.”

Union Temple was also the church of Mayor Marion Barry who was also a major advocate for the march, explained Arif Muhammad. “Rev. Wilson has always been an advocate for justice. That relationship continued and he was on the steering committee for the Million Family March in 2000, was the National Director for the Millions More Movement in 2005 and was on the steering committee for Justice or Else in 2015,” he added.

In 1977 Minister Farrakhan was in the beginning stages of rebuilding the Nation of Islam. He was speaking around the country in small venues about the work of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. There were no Muhammad Mosques only a few study groups.

Rev. Wilson did a brave and bold move by inviting the Muslim minister to speak at his church.

“If you know the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, when he established the holy city of Medina, he exhibited a tolerance for all religions and the same holds true for one of my main mentors Dr. Howard Thurman. He was also a mentor for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. Thurman established in 1954 a church in San Francisco after being the Dean of the Chapel at Howard University, Boston University and Morehouse College. He started a church of all religions, all races and that reflects the teachings of Jesus and talked about the fact that God respects all persons no matter what their religion is as long as they do good works and honor God,” Rev. Wilson told The Final Call.

Wilson (left) alongside the Honorable Minister Farrakhan

“Minister Farrakhan has been here every year since 1977 and sometimes three and four times a year. As you know sometimes when he went on an international trip, he would come to Union Temple first and we would have prayer together before he departed. It’s a long-standing relationship. He fleshes out the very message Jesus gave in terms of being a champion for the oppressed and the downtrodden and the dispossessed,” he continued.

The relationship between Rev. Wilson, a Christian pastor and Minister Farrakhan, a Muslim minister has been a very deep and profound one,” explained Rev. Wilson.

“I love him. He’s obviously in my opinion the greatest leader of our time, one of the greatest leaders we’ve ever had as a people. Jesus said you must first of all be a servant. I don’t know anyone who has been more of a greater servant of the downtrodden and the dispossessed than the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.”

Anthony Perry, brother of Carol Blake and son of Norma Perry, came with his mother and sisters to hear Minister Farrakhan in 1977. He was so impressed with what he heard that he left Union Temple to start a study group in his home to learn more about the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

“Rev. Wilson introduced me to Minister Farrakhan and changed my life to become a Muslim,” Anthony Perry, now Anthony Muhammad told The Final Call. “He started people on their journey of inquiry about who Jesus was—was he Black? And the empowerment of our people,” said Anthony Muhammad.

“Rev. Wilson is so very important to our community and has been significant to my family. My mother loved being a member of this church until she died,” he continued.

“She brought her friends to the church she loved and they joined, too. She got her grandchildren involved in the womanhood training classes. This church became a center of activity for our family regardless of whether they were Christian or Muslim. My mother got everyone involved.”

Sirius XM Radio Host of “Making It Plain,” the Rev. Mark Thompson attributes Minister Farrakhan’s acceptance in the Christian community to Rev. Wilson.

“To the extent that the Black church acknowledges and has reverence for Minister Farrakhan, Willie Wilson had a lot to do with that. He gave many in the Black church, preachers and congregations the ability to embrace the Minister because he set the example and he showed that it was not at all a contradiction to be a Christian church or a Christian pastor or a Christian congregation, it was not at all a contradiction to be that and have a relationship and have solidarity with Minister Farrakhan,” he told The Final Call.

In 1992, President William Clinton presented Rev. Wilson with the Presidential Service Award, the highest civilian award given by the White House for community service.

Union Temple is a hub for Pan Africanism as well. Rev. Wilson was able to connect the church to Africa by forgoing traditional black robes and wearing African garments in the pulpit. This allowed congregants to also proudly wearing African attire as Rev. Wilson welcomed the head of African nations including Presidents Jerry Rawlings and John Kaffour of Ghana, the president of Benin as well as ambassadors from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa and Namibia.

Before their deaths President Nelson Mandela and Winnie Mandela spoke at Union Temple on several occasions and Rev. Wilson visited them in South Africa. He was ordained as a Wolof priest in The Gambia, West Africa and an Ashanti sub chief in Ghana.

Rev. Wilson made history in 1992 when he commissioned the 19” x 20” mural depicting a Black Christ and his disciples as Black.

“The Black Liberation Theology movement that James Cone and others started, Rev. Willie Wilson continued for the masses and brought it into the mainstream Black Baptist church. As a result, a larger number of people in the Black masses no longer saw Black theology as an academic or intellectual philosophy but as a real presence in their lives. He challenged us and helped us see in Black people in Christ every time we look in the mirror,” explained Rev. Thompson.

“By helping us see who we are in the mirror, he empowered us to overcome our surroundings, many of whom, the surroundings were impoverished or at least, he empowered us to see how we could better our condition through our own self-determination. He applied every principle of Kwanza in building up and improving the Blackest and poorest ward in Washington, D.C.”

What was it like working with Rev. Wilson especially on projects like the Million Man March?

“He was my elder in ministry. He taught me as a young man, he counseled me as an adult, he prepared me for ordination and taught that under no circumstances should we compromise our Africanity. I am in many ways a disciple of Willie Wilson and am an ambassador of his Black theological teaching. Everywhere I’ve gone I’ve included his words and invoked his knowledge,” said Rev. Thompson.

“When we work on significant events like the Million Man March, ego inevitably rears its head. Willie Wilson found a way to always be humble and inclusive and see to it that all the work we did was representative of all the constituencies in our Black community,” he added. Rev. Wilson could work with any person, organization and with any socio-economic class, explained Rev. Thompson.

“In that way he brought all different aspects of our community together. Sometimes leaders only want to promote themselves. He never did that. He only promoted the people he was working for and the masses that he served, the people in the community.”

Rev. Wilson has been motivated to do God’s work for a very long time. He’s committed to his understanding of Jesus’ inaugural address when he spoke it for the first time in the Temple of Jerusalem to bring good news to the poor, to free the captive and give sight to the blind.

“Throughout these 46 years that has been my mandate to speak for those who could not speak for themselves and fight for justice and fairness for our people and that’s what my ministry has been about which reflects what Jesus’ message and ministry was about,” he said.

What’s next for Rev. Wilson? “True soldiers don’t retire. I’m going to keep working for our people. One of the problems we’ve had as a community is having a succession plan. Quite often great institutions in our community falter because there is no succession plan. We’ve been planning this move for at least 10 years,” said Rev. Wilson.

He named his daughter as the assistant pastor 10 years ago. Three years later she made her associate pastor while he remained the senior pastor.

“All along I’ve been preparing her so she can take on the work of pastor and this will alleviate me from the responsibility, giving me more time to fight for more issues in the community, the nation and the world,” said the activist pastor.

“I just published my latest book, The Birth of the Bible. I will continue to work. When people retire, they decline and die. I will continue to work until I can’t work any longer.”