Landmark Cascade Church Provides Help, Hope to the Young and Old

Gerald Durley watched as the children laughed in his church’s half-acre, organic garden; smiling as he watched their faces light up with wonder. Later, he found out why they were laughing and was slightly amazed.

 The children had never seen a worm before.

“A lot of children never worked in the dirt,” Dr. Durley said. “Many play and fight in the dirt, but never worked in the dirt.”

Now, he wants the children to do something else they have never done – sell the vegetables produced from the garden and place the proceeds in their own bank.

Pastor Gerald Durley is the 16th or 17th pastor of Providence Missionary Baptist Church, which dates back to 1870 and emerged as a “citadel of hope” for those living in the wake of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery.

The church grew out of Friendship Baptist Church on Mitchell Street as one of several missions.  Rev. Grant wanted to build a church at the Mission on Greensferry Street to serve many of the ex-slaves who had settled nearby, according to a chronicle of the church’s history. But the Reverend died before the church was built.

Since then, the church has grown bigger and moved several times before settling at 2295 Benjamin E. Mays Dr. under Rev. Dr. Durley, who has been the pastor for the past 24 years.

“I always knew I wanted to do something significant in terms of making a difference in the lives of African Americans,” Durley said.

But for the 68-year old being a pastor was not a lifelong dream. Still, helping to improve the civil and human rights of his people was his mainstay.

He marched downtown in Nashville, Tenn., during the Civil Rights movement. As a student government leader he helped change the laws on segregated drinking fountain and transportation.  And after graduating with a psychology degree from Tennessee State University, he became part of the first Peace Corps volunteers to go to Nigeria. Dr. Durley went on to get his masters in Divinity and now pastors the 1,400-member church.

Clemmie Hatchett, 89, joined the church in 1949 when the congregation was still small enough for everyone to know each other’s names.

Hatchett preferred the smaller congregation. “It felt more comfortable and more like a family, and still is.”

Pastor Durley believes strongly in treating everyone equal and making sure the elders are involved in the church.

Still, he said, “Our real strength is that we continue to believe that the work of Jesus Christ has to be out in the community.”

Each week, the church provides about 160 families with large boxes of food and 147 large boxes go to senior citizens every month. It has a substation for the Red Cross to help meet fire disasters, provides clothes to those in need and serves hot breakfast every Sunday morning.

With the assistance of two paid employees and seven to eight volunteers, Pastor Durley is able to provide several outreach ministries, counsel the young and the old, work 12-hours or more a day and still have time for his wife of 43 years.

 “We are reaching the least and the last; those who have been disenfranchised because of education, poverty and color,” Durley said. “We have to bridge the gap. We have to give them a sense of themselves.”

Two years ago the church cleaned up an overgrown area littered with trash and transformed it into the organic garden.  The next summer youths from the church and the community came to learn to till the soil and grow vegetables such as tomatoes and squash in the garden.

 “Our ancestors all they knew was organic, they couldn’t afford pesticides,” said Pastor Gurley, a well-known speaker on global warming.

The children would then give the vegetables away. This year, they will be selling them and putting the money in their own bank.

With a planned partnership with Capitol City Bank, Pastor Durley said the members expect to open up a youth bank at the church this spring or summer.

Also, last year the church built a senior citizen, one bedroom-facility on Campbellton Road. It’s named the Gerald L. Durley Providence Manor for the man who had the vision to build it.

The $6 million facility completed nine months ago with hardwood floor, living room, dining room and a kitchen, can house 46 residents.  Six months ago, it reached its capacity with residents paying as low as $4 a month and no more than $100 month.

“We have an obligation to those who taught us in school, who marched, who were there before the march,” said Durley, a grandfather of four.

Daily, he deals with the depressed, people who have given up – their hopes shattered and their faith blown apart, he said. He counsels them and cautions them to always have fun and laughter.

But when he almost lost his own sense of humor after too many long nights, he promptly made an announcement that initially baffled the congregation.

They can no longer die on Fridays and they can’t have any arguments on Fridays. To the children he said, if you must run away from home, don’t do it on a Friday.

Then added, “Because I will be dating my wife on Fridays.” The congregation laughed. Now staff members sometimes have to usher him out of the office to make sure he keeps his date with Muriel Durley.

Still, none of his members complain they can’t reach him.

“He’s wonderful. If you need to be prayed for, he won’t say I will pray for you later. He will pray for you then and there and don’t care if it’s in the middle of the street or the parking lot,” said Hatchett who calls his grandchildren her great grandchildren. “He always has time for his parishioners.”

Pastors have to be accessible to their people, Durley said, adding that in this era of ignorance and lost morals, “it’s critical.”

“Pastors, just like in the old days, in the time of slavery, have to bring some understanding, some peace, some stability,” Pastor Durley said. “People don’t have to be running in every direction. We’ve got to let people know it’s alright, not because we say it - but because God commanded it.”

 Editor's Note: Providence services are at 8 a.m. and 10:40 a.m. For additional information about Sunday School, Sunday breakfast and other activities, please visit: http://pmbcatlanta.org/services.html.