North Delta’s Lenair building ministry
William H. Perkins Jr.June 5, 2008
MEETING NEEDS — Robert Lenair (second from right) of Lula, moderator for North Delta
Association in Clarksdale, pitches in to help sort donated items at the association’s headquarters.
Lenair, pastor of New Strangers Rest Church in Dundee, is the first African-American moderator in
the history of Baptist associational missions in Mississippi. (Photo by William H. Perkins Jr.)
Robert Lenair was a little more than surprised when he was elected moderator of North Delta Association in Clarksdale.
“Astonished would be a good word, but then I was astonished when I was elected vice-moderator before that,” said the first African-American pastor to serve in both roles in the history of Baptist associational missions in Mississippi, which dates to 1806.
Born on the Fourth of July, the bivocational pastor of New Strangers Rest Church in Dundee is proud of his all-American Delta roots. “Born and raised in Lula, Mississippi,” he boasts.
In addition to Coahoma County where Clarksdale is situated, North Delta Association includes Quitman County to the east and Tunica County to the north. A total of 30 churches are members of North Delta Association, and eight of those churches are predominantly African-American.
“Yes, I’ve been asked by both white and black people why I would want to get involved with a predominantly white Baptist association. This is the Mississippi Delta, you know,” said Lenair, who also serves as a corporal in the Tunica County Sheriff’s Department.
Lenair said he was initially drawn to the association by the enormous amount of resources he found available through the association from the Mississippi Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention — most notably the widely-acclaimed Vacation Bible School curriculum, but also the sheer number of aids for the development of church programs and the support that comes with those aids.
“My church was led to join the association because of their resources for equipping the saints,” he said, but Lenair also credited M.C. Johnson, longtime executive director of the association, for playing a critical role in his decision to join.
“M.C. sees people, not colors. That inspired me,” Lenair said. “He came to my church, spent time with us, and just loved us into the association.”
Lenair has been an active part of the association for nine years. In addition to his terms as moderator and vice-moderator, he has served as missions development chairman and in a number of other roles.
His wife of 33 years, Loretta, has been his partner in associational work and has herself served the association in a number of ways including as chairman of the family ministry program, he said. The couple have three sons and a daughter.
Lenair surrendered to the Christian ministry in 1989 and was ordained in 1990. He served as pastor of a Missionary Baptist church before pastoring churches that are now members of North Delta Association. He has taken classes through the Southern Baptist Convention’s Seminary Extension for six years.
Lenair was instrumental in starting the jail ministry in Tunica County under the administration of current Sheriff K.C. Hamp — “a God-fearing man,” he said – and there are presently six ministers involved in that ministry.
“The atmosphere is better in a jail with a strong Christian ministry, and the inmates are better prepared when they have to go down the road,” he said.
By “down the road,” Lenair means the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman in Sunflower County, just south of North Delta Association.
Lenair said his reception as leader of the association has been “great,” from both black and white Baptists involved in the association’s work. “On a scale of one to ten, I’d rate it a nine-and-a-half,” he pointed out.
When Johnson introduced him from the podium to messengers attending the 2007 Mississippi Baptist Convention in Jackson, Lenair was honored with a standing ovation. He was visibly moved by the show of support.
Still, his involvement in the association hasn’t been without apprehension on the part of some people, Lenair said.
“The injustices of the past have made some black people skeptical, and white people are anxious, too, about the changes that are taking place around them. That’s all understandable,” he said, “but when black people see my church developing they wonder what’s going on, and when white people see my heart they know my intention is to bring us together for the Lord’s work.”
Lenair cites statistics on the declining population of white Deltans as a sign that the role of black churches in Mississippi Baptist associational work will continue to grow. “I see churches in the future that will have a 50% white, 50% black membership, possibly 60% black and 40% white,” he said.
Southern Baptist Convention studies in recent years have pointed out that virtually all the growth in the convention is occurring in the convention’s ethnic churches. Lenair wants to harness that momentum to make a difference for the Lord.
“We need to forget about color and do what the Lord called us to do,” he said. “Love draws people together. When people see love among us, they’ll see no differences between us. When that happens, there’s no limit to what we can do.”
This article was reprinted with permission from the Baptist Record of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board; June 5, 2008, Vol. 132, No. 23.