News and Views

By Melissa Lauber

Her name is Angelic. She is a “bald, sneaker-wearing pastor” who just “shows up as herself” in the heart of Baltimore. That could be the entire story. It writes itself. 

But add: her parents named her Aretha, then her godparents renamed her. As a part of her identity, she “has God in her mouth.”

Then add, last year Angelic was appointed to serve St. Luke UMC as an interim, brand-new pastor. The church, in one of Baltimore’s poorest neighborhoods, started to immediately grow, and she was assigned on a more permanent basis. District leaders say they are surprised that she has accomplished years of ministry in just a few months.

Since she started preaching at St. Luke in Sandtown-Winchester, attendance in worship has gone from about 19 to between 60 and 75. On a good week, there are 95 worshippers. But more importantly, there is fruit. One Sunday morning, for instance, Williams was talking to a member of the church when she saw a young pregnant woman pass by outside.

 She excused herself and flew out of the door to pray with the woman, who she knew was staying at a sober-living facility down the street from the church. It was too rich of a moment to pass up an opportunity to offer a blessing and a word of intercession.

“My grandmother was an intercessor, and she raised an intercessor,” Williams said. “I want us to know our neighbors, especially those who might be in pain. Sometimes this means praying on the sidewalk instead of in the church.”

Taking the church to the streets outside the building has been a large part of the transformation unfolding at St. Luke UMC.

Last June, Williams was inspired to do a community cookout. There was no money in the budget, but she set about getting a permit for the two-block area, soliciting donations, and lining up people to volunteer. One member had a food truck and handed out 200 free snow cones. Another distributed gourmet cupcakes. The local library gave away 160 books. There were games, burgers, face painting, and a grocery giveaway. Even the fire department came.

 “It was beautiful,” Williams said. “It was a seminal moment, a huge moment where everybody came together. It was more than free hotdogs; there was singing and dancing. It was a good day. We learned the power of coming together and how God could bless us and make much out of very little.”

For a long time, Williams had been preaching the Gospel as a laywoman in an interdenominational church. She had lived in Florida for two decades when her husband of 21 years died. “Within a blink of an eye, I didn’t know who I was,” she said. “I was disoriented from loss.”

Her family, with whom she is very close, swept in and moved her home to Baltimore to heal. She began attending Eastern UMC in Baltimore, where the people ministered to her, and she got back to her Methodist roots.

One thing led to another, and she filled in as a preacher in local pulpits, then was called to fill in at St. Luke. She is also working a secular job as an insurance investigator. “God has made a way,” she said. “The congregation doesn’t mind serving, showing up and giving of themselves. They are a giving, enthusiastic congregation.”

“I really think the key ingredient is obedience,” Williams said. “I always want to do the things that God assigns to my hands in the season he assigns them. … I’m willing to be stretched and to be enthusiastic. I just preach the Gospel. There’s no gimmick, no extra sauce – it’s just Jesus.”

Meanwhile, people in the St. Luke community are “reaching out to be the hands and feet of Jesus. People are being converted to Christ. Faith is being extended,” Williams said.  “When you love God, that translates to the people. Passion is contagious, it moves into the congregation and into the community.”

When Williams first arrived at St. Luke, she felt like the community treated the church like living room furniture. People know, blindfolded, where the furniture in their living room is. They don’t bump into it. They take it for granted. We had become like that – a fixture in the community, but people were living their lives around us.” she said. No more. Today, hearts are being broken for Jesus. New life is coming forth as people begin to see themselves and one another as Gods’ image-bearers. 

“I function with evangelistic intentions. I’m just obeying God,” Williams concluded.  And that, it turns out, can be Angelic.