Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church remembers Rev. Dr. Calvin Butts III
An exterior view of Abyssinian Baptist Church as guests wait in line to pay their respects to the late Cicely Tyson at a public viewing service in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan on February 15, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Get
NEW YORK - Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church held its first Sunday service since the passing of Reverend Dr. Calvin Butts III, on Friday. He served his congregation and the community for fifty years. Now churchgoers are praying for courage, as they enter a new chapter without him.
"It’s rough. It’s rough," said Jimmy Bugg, a friend of Rev. Butts. "I’m not trying to be emotional, but this is a tough week."
Sunday service was full at Abyssinian Baptist Church, its members still mourning the loss of Butts through prayer, one reverend saying, "You sent us a light, through the work and witness of Calvin Otis Butts III… And everything that he has taught and deposited within us, we will use this to make the world brighter. We will use this to serve Harlem."
Butts is best known for his powerful preaching and his political activism inside Abyssinian, one of the nation’s oldest Black churches. He pushed parishioners to vote and get vaccinated, he encouraged kids to get educated, serving as President Emeritus of SUNY Old Westbury and Distinguished Visiting Professor for Fordham's Graduate School of Education. He also helped the community generate $1 billion in housing and services through the church’s development corporation.
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"The minister that preached," said Grant Harper Reid, a member of Abyssinian Baptist Church. "He said God will make a way to give us hope to find a new replacement. We got to take our time and scrutinize who is going to take over."
People told FOX 5 NY they woke up sad, but they pushed themselves to come to church. In their grief, they felt healing, surrounded by people they consider family, with the memory of Rev. Butts all around,
"Just the fact that as a church community," said church member Evelyn Jemmott-Jackson, "We have decided to continue on and celebrate him as an individual, represents the fact that we are going to get through this. But It’s going to take a day, it’s going to take an hour and it’s going to take time."