New Horizon Christian Church, 206 Emerling Dr., celebrated 16 years of fellowship on Saturday in a special way. Pastor B.T. Rice hosted his long-time friend Chaplain Barry Black, the 62nd Chaplain for the U.S. Senate, who attended with his wife, Brenda Pearsall.
Black told the congregation at New Horizon about a previous speaking engagement in Baltimore, MD. As he was headed to the pulpit, he recalled, the pastor slipped him a note. It read, “Ask the congregation to pray because there is an active shooter at the Columbia Mall.”
He was referring to last month’s deadly mall shooting in suburban Baltimore that left three people dead and five injured.
“What do you do when all of sudden you are thrust into a situation and there’s absolutely nothing you can do?” Black said. “What do you do when you’re in a mall and somebody starts shooting, and there’s nothing you can do?”
He said that throughout our lives we are confronted with situations that are beyond our control, but we must learn to listen for God’s voice, be not afraid, and keep the faith.
“You have to learn to wait on the Lord, to be of good courage and He will strengthen your heart,” he said. “And He will surprise you with his power.”
Black made national news last year when Congress shut down much of the federal government. Every day of the shutdown, he continued to open the U.S. Senate chamber with a prayer for Congress to find a solution – even though he was one of the many federal workers whose pay had been cut off.
The government shutdown lasted 16 days. Throughout the crisis, he called upon members of the Senate to examine their consciences and reflect on the damage caused by the shutdown.
“Some of the journalists during the federal shutdown said to me, ‘Chaplain, how can you talk to Senators like that?’” Black said.
He would answer, “I’ve just got to download what the Holy Ghost says. It’s not always what people want to hear.”
Black delivered two more sermons in St. Louis over the weekend. He spoke at New Horizon’s anniversary banquet Saturday evening at the May Center, located at DePaul Hospital in Bridgeton. At the banquet, Black rallied the congregation to stand up against demonic influences.
Rice also arranged for Black to speak Sunday at New Sunny Mount Baptist Church, 4700 West Florissant, where Rev. Donald Hunter is pastor. At New Sunny Mount, he reminded the congregation of the various promises that God has made to His people.
“He promised never to forsake us,” Black said. “He promised that he would never put more on us than we can bear.”
Black was elected to his position in 2003, becoming the first African American and the first Seventh-day Adventist to hold the office. The Senate elected its first chaplain in 1789.
He previously served for more than 27 years as a chaplain in the U.S. Navy, rising to the rank of rear admiral and ending his career as the Chief of Chaplains of the U.S. Navy, the senior chaplain of the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps. He retired from the Navy on August 15, 2003.
