Tyler

By PATRICK BUTLER
Religion Editor

National, state, city civic and business leaders spoke Saturday at the dedication of the J.R. Milton Annex at 502 N. Horace Ave. The morning ceremony at Greater New Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church was attended by about 85 people.

Remarks were made by U.S. Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-Tyler), State Rep. Leo Berman, County Commissioner JoAnn Hampton and Nelson Clyde IV, publisher of the Tyler Courier-Times--Telegraph.

A “Hall of Honor” to Billy E. Hibbs Jr., chairman of Heartland Security Insurance Group and James I. Perkins, CEO of Citizen’s 1st Bank was unveiled after a ribbon cutting in front of the new annex. The two men and their families had encouraged and participated in the financing of the 3,200-square foot annex.

Former Tyler mayor Joey Seeber read a city proclamation on behalf of Tyler Mayor Barbara Bass, declaring June 28, 2008, as Jerome R. Milton Day. Ms. Hampton read a similar resolution from the county commissioners.

MILESTONE

The milestone for the small, historic church celebrating its 100th year was punctuated by the surprise dedication of the facility to the church’s pastor, the Rev. Dr. Jerome Milton. Milton originally envisioned a neighborhood gathering place for Tyler’s east side and pushed the project through. A single room had been slated to be named for the pastor.

“It was the hardest secret to keep,” said Lois Black when the congregation made the decision in October. “We cannot thank him (Milton) enough, or praise him enough to see his and our vision together to become a reality.”

The dedication became an opportunity for the congregation and Tyler leaders to honor Milton for his many civic, social, and ministerial achievements. He is the longest tenured pastor in the church’s history, said Ms. Hampton, and is now in his 21st year of ministry at the church. He is also the first African-American, Seeber said, to have been elected as president of the Tyler Ministerial Association as well as past president of the Texas Educational Baptist State Congress. Milton graduated magna cum laude from UCLA and was awarded an honorary doctorate from San Diego’s Point Loma School of Theology in 1985.

“You’re a special man, with a special place in our community,” said Seeber to Milton before reading the proclamation, “just by following your calling.”

“I would not be in this spot without the voice of Rev. Jerome Milton,” said Ms. Hampton. “He has been a friend, he has been a pastor, he guides me, he gives me encouragement. And there has never been a time when I’ve picked up the phone to ask him to do something that he did not say ‘yes I can.’”

The resolution from the Commissioner’s Court “urged all citizens to celebrate this milestone of this good and worthy man,” read Ms. Hampton who added, “It is signed by the County Judge and all four commissioners.”

Calling Milton a “Tyler institution for so many years” State Rep. Leo Berman said, “Dr. Milton is just one outstanding man in our community. I don’t know what we would do without him, whether it’s coaching a track team or teaching students Christian values, or calling the community to the Martin Luther King Jr. rally. I’m honored to call Dr. Milton my friend.”

Berman presented Milton with a Texas state flag that had flown over the state capital and a certificate.

Calling Milton “a great man and a great friend” Gohmert read from Proverbs 8:12-21, the personification of wisdom.

“We have been so richly blessed in this community, county and state,” he said. “However God decided to plant in Jerome Milton’s heart the need to be here in Tyler is a matter of thanksgiving; to put it in his heart to come here and bless us as he did. I see wisdom and the fruit spoken of in Proverbs in this man.”

Touching on Milton’s effect in founding and sustaining Tyler’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. rally, Gohmert said, “King freed an awful lot of white people to do what they were taught to do in the Bible. A lot of people didn’t realize they were enslaved. We ought to be brother and sisters, and no one in this whole area embodies that more than Jerome Milton.”

Gohmert presented a United States flag to Milton that had flown over the Capital building in Washington, D.C.

Nelson Clyde IV brought his 9-year-old son, James, to the podium with him.

“Children ought to see what’s going on in someone else’s church as well as their own,” he said.

Clyde touched on Tyler’s giving heart.

“I’d put this town up against any other in the country,” he said. “It has more generous people who give of their heart, souls and energy to make their community better. One of the people who stands out in that is my friend Jerome Milton. One of the things Jesus called us to do is love one another. And when you love, you get joy. I’m almost certain that if there is a definition of joy, Jerome Milton’s picture in next to.”

Clyde said to James, “Find people like this man (Milton) and spend as much time as you can with them. You will be rich in joy.”

The new annex contains classrooms, a conference room, church offices, a kitchen and general assembly room. Next door, a youth center is being built and should be completed in July, Milton said.

The Hibbs family was unable to attend, but the Perkins family accepted special recognition for both during Milton’s presentation to them.

“It is my pleasure,” Milton said, “in the name of the trustee board and deacon staff to honor the Billy E. Hibbs and James I. Perkins family foundations for their generous donations with this Wall of Honor” as we endeavor to do better with our vision for missions and evangelization for this community.”

“I just want to say one thing,” said Perkins. “God bless everyone here and we’re behind you all the way,” to applause.

Perkins and Hibbs, who are friends, decided to assist the church because “It’s important to the community,” Perkins told the Tyler Paper. “We’ve looked on at what Brother Milton has done for Tyler and Smith County and we were pleased to help. In East Texas, we like to get along with our neighbors.”

The Rev. Dr. Jerome Milton (right) and James I. Perkins speak to family, friends and community leaders at a dedication on Saturday of the new Greater New Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church annex in Tyler.
((Staff Photo By Mark Roberts))