Why have I never heard this name before?: Dr. Eugene Callender and the CRCNA.
I am nearly 48 years old. Every one of those 48 years I have been part of the Christian Reformed Church in North America. My father was a pastor in the CRCNA for many years. I am an ordained pastor in this small Calvinist denomination. Growing up I learned the names of prominent CRCNA members. Names like Berkhof, DeVos, Ehlers, Plantinga, Smedes, Van Til, Wolterstorff, and Zondervan. But I learned a name today that I had never heard, Dr. Eugene Callender.
On a Zoom call today with other members of the CRCNA involved in Urban Ministry I learned the name Eugene Callender. The host of the call shared he had just read the autobiography of Dr. Callender - Nobody is a Nobody: The Story of a Harlem Ministry Hard at Work to Change America. He went on to say that Callender was a civil-rights leader, urban ministry innovator, and held important positions in both New York City and as an advisor in Washington D.C. The list of accolades was impressive and it sent my mind spinning. As soon as the call was over I looked him up.
The biography attached to Dr. Callender's book on Amazon reveals an impressive career. It starts, "For over sixty years, Reverend Dr. Eugene S. Callender’s career covered a broad spectrum of social, political, and devotional activism" before listing these achievements:
- Neighborhood missionary for the Christian Reformed Church
- 1950: creates "a ministry for drug addicts, alcoholics, welfare recipients, ex-convicts, battered women, and brutalized children. He also began the first community-based clinic to detoxify heroin addicts. Among those treated were famous jazz musicians Jackie McClean and Ike Quebec."
- Chaplain at Rikers Island the New York City jail.
- 1957, "Dr. Callender brought Dr. Martin Luther King to Harlem for the first time and created a public event from a flatbed truck in front of the Hotel Theresa on 125th Street."
- 1960, "became senior pastor at the Presbyterian Church of the Master" and started "the original Street Academy Program, an educational enterprise that provided opportunities for high school dropouts to succeed in a nontraditional environment. In the end, fourteen Street Academies were formed in Harlem with significant funding by major corporations in New York City. Two thousand students would graduate from Harlem Prep, some of whom are in prominent positions in America today."
- 1962, "helped out a young Alex Haley...took him to Reader’s Digest, the publication for which Haley eventually wrote the article that would become Roots." He also, "assisted Haley in finding a publisher for his book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X."
- Creates "the first and largest anti-poverty program in America, HARYOU-ACT, eventually becoming the executive director of the Urban League and later serving as the deputy administrator of housing under Mayor John Lindsay."
- "Served as president of the Urban Coalition, an organization founded to deal with inner-city relations following the widespread rioting in America in 1967 and 1968. As president of the coalition, Dr. Callender helped launch Positively Black, the first major black television show on NBC, as well as the Ashanti Clothing Enterprise, New Breed Clothing Company, and Essence Magazine."
- "Served on presidential commissions under Presidents Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Bush Sr., and Clinton." Elsewhere, it is noted that "he officiated at the funeral service for Billie Holiday" and "publicly debated Malcolm X."
That is just a taste, the list goes on.
All of this has me wondering why had I never heard of Dr. Callender until today? I've been in the CRCNA my entire life and do not remember anyone mentioning Dr. Callender even once. What makes it even more interesting is that I have practiced and studied Urban Ministry and the name never came up. My parents (both long time CRCNA members) ministered in West New York, New Jersey in the early 1970's, and they didn't pass his name on. I've been a pastor in the denomination for 13 years and never was this leader highlighted in any meeting I was a part of. Why? I think the answer is two-fold.
First, he was not Dutch. Not being Dutch is a bit of a sin in CRCNA circles. Growing up my Uncle jokingly wore a t-shirt that read, "If you're not Dutch, you're not much. While it may have been in jest, what makes a joke work is an underlying truth. Not only was Dr. Callender not Dutch, he was African-American. Dr. Eugene Callender was the first African-American pastor in the CRCNA, but unlike Jackie Robinson, there is no day set aside to celebrate his breaking of that color barrier.
Second, Dr. Callender was doing urban ministry and the CRCNA is a denomination that was founded in rural agrarian settings and continues to be shaped by that heritage. I suspect that innovative urban ministry work being done in the inner city of New York City in the 1950's was simply of little interest to the vast majority of CRCNA members at the time. I would also venture that not much has changed.
Dr. Callender was only in the CRCNA a few years. The denomination website lists his positions as a Minister of the Word this way:
The biography attached to Dr. Callender's book on Amazon reveals an impressive career. It starts, "For over sixty years, Reverend Dr. Eugene S. Callender’s career covered a broad spectrum of social, political, and devotional activism" before listing these achievements:
- Neighborhood missionary for the Christian Reformed Church
- 1950: creates "a ministry for drug addicts, alcoholics, welfare recipients, ex-convicts, battered women, and brutalized children. He also began the first community-based clinic to detoxify heroin addicts. Among those treated were famous jazz musicians Jackie McClean and Ike Quebec."
- Chaplain at Rikers Island the New York City jail.
- 1957, "Dr. Callender brought Dr. Martin Luther King to Harlem for the first time and created a public event from a flatbed truck in front of the Hotel Theresa on 125th Street."
- 1960, "became senior pastor at the Presbyterian Church of the Master" and started "the original Street Academy Program, an educational enterprise that provided opportunities for high school dropouts to succeed in a nontraditional environment. In the end, fourteen Street Academies were formed in Harlem with significant funding by major corporations in New York City. Two thousand students would graduate from Harlem Prep, some of whom are in prominent positions in America today."
- 1962, "helped out a young Alex Haley...took him to Reader’s Digest, the publication for which Haley eventually wrote the article that would become Roots." He also, "assisted Haley in finding a publisher for his book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X."
- Creates "the first and largest anti-poverty program in America, HARYOU-ACT, eventually becoming the executive director of the Urban League and later serving as the deputy administrator of housing under Mayor John Lindsay."
- "Served as president of the Urban Coalition, an organization founded to deal with inner-city relations following the widespread rioting in America in 1967 and 1968. As president of the coalition, Dr. Callender helped launch Positively Black, the first major black television show on NBC, as well as the Ashanti Clothing Enterprise, New Breed Clothing Company, and Essence Magazine."
- "Served on presidential commissions under Presidents Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Bush Sr., and Clinton." Elsewhere, it is noted that "he officiated at the funeral service for Billie Holiday" and "publicly debated Malcolm X."
That is just a taste, the list goes on.
All of this has me wondering why had I never heard of Dr. Callender until today? I've been in the CRCNA my entire life and do not remember anyone mentioning Dr. Callender even once. What makes it even more interesting is that I have practiced and studied Urban Ministry and the name never came up. My parents (both long time CRCNA members) ministered in West New York, New Jersey in the early 1970's, and they didn't pass his name on. I've been a pastor in the denomination for 13 years and never was this leader highlighted in any meeting I was a part of. Why? I think the answer is two-fold.
First, he was not Dutch. Not being Dutch is a bit of a sin in CRCNA circles. Growing up my Uncle jokingly wore a t-shirt that read, "If you're not Dutch, you're not much. While it may have been in jest, what makes a joke work is an underlying truth. Not only was Dr. Callender not Dutch, he was African-American. Dr. Eugene Callender was the first African-American pastor in the CRCNA, but unlike Jackie Robinson, there is no day set aside to celebrate his breaking of that color barrier.
Second, Dr. Callender was doing urban ministry and the CRCNA is a denomination that was founded in rural agrarian settings and continues to be shaped by that heritage. I suspect that innovative urban ministry work being done in the inner city of New York City in the 1950's was simply of little interest to the vast majority of CRCNA members at the time. I would also venture that not much has changed.
Dr. Callender was only in the CRCNA a few years. The denomination website lists his positions as a Minister of the Word this way:
- Manhattan, New York, NY (1955-1959)
- Home Miss., Negro Evangelizati, (1952-1955)
Elsewhere it is noted, "He was recruited in the late 1940s by The Back to God Hour to plant a church in Harlem. The first black graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary, he started out in a storefront, but no one came for services. So he started holding outdoor worship services, going from street to street. Eventually he attracted worshippers and opened a five-story worship center."
It appears from records that Dr. Callender was ordained in 1952 and withdrew from the CRCNA in 1958/59. It might be this leaving the denomination that caused his legacy to be less known. However, others have left - most notably Bill Hybels - and remained a name associated with the CRCNA and claimed by members.
I am encouraged and excited to have learned a bit of the life of Dr. Eugene Callender and will be eagerly checking the mailbox for his autobiography to arrive. A life like his needs to remembered and retold.
Joel K
References:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1463634811/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www2.crcna.org/person/270544
https://www.crcna.org/news-and-events/news/first-black-crc-pastor-dies
https://www.crcna.org/news-and-events/news/black-ministry-crc-has-far-reach
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Callender#:~:text=For%20most%20of%20his%20life,City%20Housing%20and%20Development%20Administration.
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/memorial-service-honor-eugene-callender-article-1.1511406
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/nyregion/rev-eugene-callender-who-saw-potential-of-disadvantaged-school-dropouts-dies-at-87.html
- Home Miss., Negro Evangelizati, (1952-1955)
Elsewhere it is noted, "He was recruited in the late 1940s by The Back to God Hour to plant a church in Harlem. The first black graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary, he started out in a storefront, but no one came for services. So he started holding outdoor worship services, going from street to street. Eventually he attracted worshippers and opened a five-story worship center."
It appears from records that Dr. Callender was ordained in 1952 and withdrew from the CRCNA in 1958/59. It might be this leaving the denomination that caused his legacy to be less known. However, others have left - most notably Bill Hybels - and remained a name associated with the CRCNA and claimed by members.
I am encouraged and excited to have learned a bit of the life of Dr. Eugene Callender and will be eagerly checking the mailbox for his autobiography to arrive. A life like his needs to remembered and retold.
Joel K
References:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1463634811/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www2.crcna.org/person/270544
https://www.crcna.org/news-and-events/news/first-black-crc-pastor-dies
https://www.crcna.org/news-and-events/news/black-ministry-crc-has-far-reach
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Callender#:~:text=For%20most%20of%20his%20life,City%20Housing%20and%20Development%20Administration.
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/memorial-service-honor-eugene-callender-article-1.1511406
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/nyregion/rev-eugene-callender-who-saw-potential-of-disadvantaged-school-dropouts-dies-at-87.html
