Wellness Check Wednesdays
“WE WANT TO OFFER THINGS THAT DON’T JUST MEET THE NEEDS OF THE MEMBERSHIP, BUT THAT ALSO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY.”
Young pastor in Flint, Michigan, focuses on mental health amid pandemic and By Andrew Nash ongoing water crisis
It is always
hard to take on a new role as a senior pastor in your 20s, but there is an added degree of difficulty when doing so during a global pandemic. There’s even more of a challenge doing so in Flint, Mich., site of a water crisis that has had lasting effects. And that’s exactly what the Rev. DeVontae Powell has had to do in the last year at Rising Star Missionary Baptist Church. “Coming in during the pandemic was challenging. I officially began on May 16, 2020, but I started coming to the church as pulpit supply in March,” Powell said. “I’ve worshiped with the congregation fully in person only two times. It was difficult navigating how to reach the members who have not been to church to even meet me, but who were also in need of pastoral care. At first, it was a struggle figuring out how to do outreach; but there’s been real-time strategy-building. We’ve had to be strategic about the challenge.” One way Rising Star reached out in a time when people have largely stayed in was through a program throughout the summer of 2020 called Wellness Check Wednesdays. The program involved bringing in speakers, therapists and other mental health professionals to help with some of the challenges of isolation, education at home, mindfulness and more. “I was preaching on Sundays that there was a real need for the care of mental health to take priority at our church,” Powell said. “We decided to take our normal gathering time on Wednesdays for Bible Study and invest in parishioners’ and community members’ mental health. While the church does a good job with spiritual health, as Christians, it’s also important that we consider mental health—especially in trying times like these.”
IN FLINT In late March 2021, Powell was formally installed as the fourth pastor at Rising Star. At just 26 years old, he is the youngest pastor in the church’s history, and also the youngest senior pastor in Flint, Mich. He spent most of his youth in Kankakee, Ill., before moving to Flint while in high school. His parents were born and raised in Flint, where Powell eventually was connected to the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church of Flint. His grandparents and other family members also live or have lived in Flint.
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fellowship!
Along with Wellness Check Wednesdays to check in on the mental health of Rising Star members, the Rev. DeVontae Powell (left) made sure to check in on some of the most vulnerable congregation members during COVID-19 in person and show them some extra love from the church.
