By ALBERTA HUMPHREY

SPECIAL TO THE DAILY LEADER

Two decades have passed since we, the Mt. Wade Missionary Baptist Church, first introduced Rev. Dr. Phillip Randolph Hamilton Sr. as our new Pastor. On Sunday, May 29, 2022, at 2 p.m., we will celebrate our Pastor and his wife, First Lady Zandra Hamilton’s 20th Year Appreciation. The guest speaker will be Dr. K. Maurice Davis, Pastor of Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church, in D’Iberville, Mississippi.

“Jeremiah 28: 11 says, ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.’  God’s plan is precious, sometimes painful, but always perfect. These are facts I have learned over the years,” said Dr. Hamilton.

After serving as pastor of several other churches, God’s plan led Rev. Phillip Hamilton to Mt. Wade Church. According to him, “My 20 years of service to Mt. Wade has been the best years of my Pastoral experiences. The ministry leaders that have served over the years have been faithful, fervent, and fruitful. Every member has played a vital part in our success.”

Twenty years ago, God gave Pastor Hamilton a vision and plan for Mt. Wade. He obeyed and stepped out on faith. The vision was extensive and he felt inadequate and unprepared. Despite the challenge, Hamilton accepted by following God’s instructions. He immediately went to work devising a plan for the vision.

In the Midst of the Pandemic, which we’re still dealing with, Pastor Hamilton was asked about his most challenging experiences during his pastorate. He replied that during the pandemic, there were many concessions to be made, including dealing with the lack of an audience, dealing with the transition of members and settling for graveside ceremonies instead of in person celebrations of the life of the deceased, and getting use to sitting in front of a video monitor or camera, imagining a virtual audience, to name a few. However the pandemic has not been the most challenging.

So what has been his greatest challenge? Pastor Hamilton related several: “Being the Pastor that Mt. Wade deserves, being the father that my children (Alex’Zandra and Phillip Hamilton Jr.) need and making up for wasted time, loving my wife as a husband and not as her pastor, focusing on learning something new every day, and finally, fighting the demon that continues to tell me, ‘I am inadequate.’ My prayer is that God will continue great work at Mt. Wade with me and in spite of me. Please pray that our next twenty years will be even better than the past twenty. I am ready for the challenge. Come join us and let us do Kingdom work together.”