‘Awesome man of God’ Bishop McDaniels passes

On Sunday, a saint was called home.

Bishop Dwight H. McDaniels Jr. passed 3:30 p.m. October 24, 2010 at the age of 88. He was founder and pastor of San Francisco Temple Complex, with a congregation in St. Louis of some 2,000, and presiding prelate of Christian Assembly Fellowship, Inc.

Services for Bishop McDaniels will be held at San Francisco Temple, 10191 Halls Ferry Rd., on Sunday, October 31 at 6 p.m. for the local church and general public. On Monday, November 1 another service for national and international church officials will take place at 6 p.m.

A 20-year member of San Francisco Temple, Hazel Robinson was there when Bishop McDaniels passed.

“A humbleness of spirit he had,” said Robinson, a reimbursement specialist for BJC Home Cares Service Pharmacy Division.

“He lived one day at a time and enjoyed each day. I love him. He’s an awesome man of God.”

Austin A. Layne Mortuary will be entrusted with Bishop McDaniels’ funeral. Austin Layne Jr. knew McDaniels for close to 60 years.

“He motivated me as a person and businessman,” Layne said. “He could speak on anyone’s level.”

Bishop McDaniels built a church kingdom and left many spiritual heirs, such as Ervin Simms, superintendent of Kansas City District of Church of God in Christ in Kansas, who worshipped two years at San Francisco Temple, 1978-80.

“He’s been like a father to me, and I’m honored to be like his son,” Simms said.

“I grieve at the loss. He was a genuine individual. He was a man of high integrity. A great example to the community.”

Pastors in other denominations looked to Bishop McDaniels as a community leader.

“His own interest was to build up the community with God,” said the Reverend B.T. Rice, pastor of New Horizon Christian Church. “He never lost touch with the common man.”

But the hardest loss comes to his large church family, all over the country and world.

Phyllis Frazier has been part of San Francisco Temple since 1977. Though she moved to Baltimore in 2003, she still sought Bishop McDaniels when she became licensed as a minister herself in 2008.

“Bishop was like a father to me,” said Frazier, who is now a social worker for for the City of Baltimore.

“I thank God for such a great leader, and I want to follow his footsteps. Bishop will be greatly missed.”

Up from Arkansas

Dwight H. McDaniels Jr. was born in Arkansas, the third of 11 children to the late Dwight and Hattie B. McDaniel.

He and his family moved from Forrest City, Arkansas to St. Louis. Young Dwight was raised in a Christian home where he was trained and taught by a father and mother who were saved and who reared their children by precept and example.

He attended Sunday school at Kennerly Temple Church of God in Christ, where his father served as assistant superintendent of the Sunday School Department. He was one of the first members of the Junior Choir, under the direction of Sister Vera Boykin.

He attended Simmons Elementary School, graduated from Sumner High School and was later inducted into the Sumner High School Hall of Fame. After graduation, he secured employment with the U.S. Postal Service in St. Louis.

At the age of 27, he accepted Christ as his personal Savior and was baptized. The Lord spoke to his heart one night while he sat drinking beer in a bar. With tears in his eyes, he made his way to Kennerly Temple COGIC, where a revival was being held. When the altar call was made, he went up for prayer and his heart was convicted.

The next morning, he attended a prayer meeting, conducted by Sister Bramme and Sister Haynes and he was saved and filled with the Holy Ghost.

He became a faithful member of Kennerly Temple COGIC and studied under the guidance of the late Pastor Frank James Hayden.

Others who taught him were Elder Balkom “Praying Jones,” Elder Robert Scales, Mother Lillian Scales, Mother Ogreita Hayden and Mother Flora Young.

He served as superintendent of the Sunday School Department, then was called to the ministry. He later became assistant pastor of Kennerly Temple COGIC, serving under Pastor Hayden and Elder R.J. Ward.

He met a humble and sanctified young lady name Marie. They were united in holy matrimony. He was a devoted and loving husband and a wonderful father to their son L. C. and to their daughters: Jean, Lois, Patricia, Yvonne and the late Lillian.

Construction of a temple

In 1969, McDaniels retired from the U.S. Postal Service. Taking only his wife and children, he also left Kennerly Temple COGIC and began his pastorate on December 31, 1969 at 3900 North Grand, where he founded the church that became San Francisco Temple. The church was founded on love, honor, respect, prayer, fasting and a lasting support of tithes and offerings.

In the first year God blessed him with 26 members. The offering the first year was approximately $24,000. The membership continued to grow, and more than tripled the following year.

In 1973, he moved the church to 4954 San Francisco Ave., where he had planned to build his wife a dream house. In November 1978, he embarked upon the construction of a new edifice on Halls Ferry Road, setting a $1 million fundraising goal. They moved into this new church in 1982 owing nothing.

The church has continued to expand membership, facilities and services, including the Dwight H. McDaniels, Jr. School of Christian Education, Genesis I Bookstore, the San Francisco Temple Fellowship Hall, San Francisco Chalet Senior Apartment Building, the 75,000-square-foot San Francisco Temple Multiplex Center and the Dwight H. McDaniels Ministerial Center.

In 1991, he was elevated to Bishop of Foreign Fields for the Church of God In Christ. In 1996 he established his own organization, Christian Assembly Fellowship, Inc.

Bishop McDaniels received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Glad Tidings Bible College and then earned a Doctorate in Christian Education and Counseling from the college.

For all his accomplishments, he left a simple message, according to Hazel Robinson: “The key to heaven is love.”

Austin Layne Jr. said, “We’ll miss him because of his friendship and open mind and heart.”