The Shadow
Pastor Leon R. Taylor, Sr. celebrated with his congregation and their guests at the Mortgage Burning Celebration at First Church of God in Christ at 603 Verge St. in Clifton Forge on Sun., Aug. 28.
Bishop Ronald A. Watson served as the guest speaker, and Jeff Irvine, the mayor of the Town of Clifton Forge, presented an official congratulatory resolution from the Town.
“We put up this building in 1998, and we paid off the mortgage in 2022,” Taylor revealed.
Taylor, who was born in Newport News where he trained under Bishop Samuel Bishop, Jr., remarked, “I’ve ministered here for 35 years.”
He and his wife, Fannie G. Taylor, who grew up in Hampton Roads, have four children: Kimberly Taylor, a retired educator who is 52; Kyra Taylor, an employee of Verizon who is 51; Keisha Motley, an educator who is 49; and Kevin Leon Taylor, a 47 year-old firefighter employed by the City of Roanoke where he has risen to an assistant fire marshal position with an open path to becoming captain.
Looking back to when he moved from the beach area of Virginia to the mountains, Pastor Taylor recalled, “I ministered at the First Church of God in Christ in Buchanan for one year before I was appointed to pastor here in Clifton Forge.”
He noted, “I’ve been ministering for 37 years.”
As for what he did prior to coming to Clifton Forge, Taylor remembered, “I was a conscientious objector during the War in Vietnam where I served as a combat medic for two years.”
Taylor served in the U.S. Army’s 1st Infantry Division, and he rose to the rank of E-4, receiving a purple heart and several citations along the way, including one for valor.
The celebration tents where food and soft drinks were served provided shade for those at the picnic tables and chairs following the Sunday service that celebrated the 89th Church Anniversary in addition to the Mortgage Burning.
The church’s brochures included a memorial section titled “In Loving Memory of the Church Planters, Members and Partners who have departed.”
Those listed are Gertrude Anderson, Leola Anderson, Roger Anderson, Yvonne Anderson, Brother Thurman Burks and Mother Roberta Burks.
Others are Ronald Crawley, Henry Robertson, Richard Godfrey, Rhonda Godfrey, Jewell Hamm, Sister Ida Harris, Deacon Richard Jones and Mother Geneva Jones.
Additionally, there are Florence Leisure, Sister Frances Lewis, Brother Richard Lewis, Pinkie McNeil, Rikayla Nicholas, Sister Lelia Peters, Sister Helen Peters, McKinley Peters and Sister Powell and Daughter.
Others listed are Carolyn Riley, Mother Georgia Robertson, Roberta Robertson, Henry Roland, Elder Robert Spencer, Sister Mary P. Spenser, Sister Mary B. Spenser, Nora Mae Spinner and Brother & Sister John Thurston.
Completing the list are Mable Washington, Mother Josephine Leisure Wallace, Brother Esery Wallace, Sister Chances Washington, Sister Mable Washington, Brother & Sister Edward Washington, Brother & Sister John Thompson and Brother & Sister Alfred Cunningham.
Prior to the outdoor celebration, Bishop Watson, the auxiliary Bishop Virginia Second Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction COGIC Superintendent, Greater Southwest District, presented his sermon.
The First Church of God in Christ was initially established in 1933, in Clifton Forge by Elder Arthur Carstarphen of Pa. during the throes of The Great Depression.
