To J. R. Butts
Author: King, Martin Luther, Jr.
Date: February 8, 1961
Location: Atlanta, Ga.
Genre: Letter
Topic: Martin Luther King, Jr. - Career in Ministry
Details
King writes the chairman of the board of deacons of West Hunter Baptist Church in Atlanta to recommend his friend Ralph Abernathy as a replacement for the church’s recently deceased pastor, A. Franklin Fisher.1 Fearing that Abernathy would accept a call from a northern church, King admits that his recommendation is for selfish reasons: “I just don’t think we can afford to lose Ralph Abernathy from the south at this momentous period of our history.” King urged other ministers to recommend Abernathy as well.2 Abernathy accepted the call to West Hunter in August 1961.3
Mr. J. R. Butts
152 Raymond Street, S.W.
Atlanta,
Georgia
Dear Mr. Butts:
Since the passing of your pastor and my good friend and coworker, The Rev. A. Franklin Fisher, you and West Hunter Baptist Church have been greatly in my thoughts. It is always a serious and sacred thing to call a pastor to a church. I know that you and the Board are now going through the process of selecting a man that will give West Hunter the leadership that its great heritage deserves.4
If it is not being too presumptuous, I would like to recommend a man to you who is superbly equipped to give West Hunter a unique pastorate and leadership. I refer to The Rev. Ralph David Abernathy, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama.5 Very seldom do I go to the point of giving anyone an absolute and an unqualified recommendation. But I can do this for him because I am absolutely convinced that he is one of the most capable men in our nation today. As a preacher he is powerful profound, and dynamic. As a pastor, he has proved to be exceptionally efficient. As a community leader, he has few equals. His character is above repute and his dedication to the Christian ministry unquestioned. Because of his leadership in the Montgomery community he is one of the best loved ministers in the United States today. For all of these reasons I think Ralph Abernathy could bring to your church something that could hardly be matched by anyone else. I have always felt that West Hunter has potentialities for one of the truly great churches of our nation. I am sure that a man like Ralph Abernathy could bring these vast potentialities into actuality. He would have a unique appeal to all classes of people. He has great ability to move the masses and he also greatly appeals to the so-called intelligentsia. I am convinced that a man of his stature, his organizational ability, and his tremendous preaching ability would double the membership of West Hunter in a short period.
Briefly, let me give you a biographical sketch of Rev. Abernathy’s life. He was born in Demopolis, Alabama thirty four years ago.6 He holds an A.B. degree from Alabama State College, and M.A. from Atlanta University. He has an honorary degree from Allen University; has pastored at the First Baptist Church of Demopolis, Alabama; taught at Alabama State College for three years, and is presently pastor of the historic First Baptist Church of Montgomery. He is married and has three children (two girls and a boy).7
I hope you will find it possible to invite him to preach at West Hunter.8 While I cannot definitely say that he would accept a call, I do believe that he would give it serious consideration.9 I must admit that I have something of a selfish reason for wanting West Hunter to consider him. I happen to know that two churches in the north are presently interested in calling him, and I am afraid that he may accept one of them if he is not called to a church in the south very soon. I just don’t think we can afford to lose Ralph Abernathy from the south at this momentous period of our history.
Again let me say that you are very much in my thought and prayers as you embark upon this sacred responsibility of calling a pastor. If I can be of any assistance to you, please feel free to call on me.
Sincerely yours,
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Km
1. Albert Franklin Fisher was the pastor of West Hunter Baptist Church from 1948 until his death in November 1960. Upon Fisher’s death, a West Hunter parishioner wrote King asking if he might be interested in filling the vacancy. King declined the offer, but recommended Ralph Abernathy as a suitable replacement (King to Samuel L. Spear, 16 December 1960, in Papers 5:581–582). Joseph Roney Butts (1886–1969) was born in McDuffie County, Georgia. He worked for the Atlanta Board of Education. Butts joined West Hunter Baptist Church in 1914 and served as a deacon, a trustee, and chairman of the board of deacons. As deacon, Butts was instrumental to West Hunter’s efforts to build a new church during the 1950s. Abernathy officiated at Butt’s funeral in February 1969.
2. King solicited letters of recommendation from A. A. Banks, pastor of Second Baptist Church in Detroit; J. Raymond Henderson, pastor of Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles; Gardner C. Taylor, pastor of Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn; and O. Clay Maxwell, pastor of Mount Olivet Baptist Church in New York (King to Banks, 10 February 1961; King to Henderson, 15 February 1961; King to Taylor, 16 February 1961; King to Maxwell, 9 February 1961).
3. On 11 February 1962 King preached at Abernathy’s installation service at West Hunter (see pp. 385–394 in this volume).
4. According to Abernathy’s 1989 autobiography, the church also considered giving the pastorate to Wyatt Tee Walker, who had been filling in since Fisher’s death (And the Walls Came Tumbling Down [New York: Harper & Row], pp. 197–198).
5. Abernathy had been pastor of First Baptist Church since 1952.
6. Abernathy was born in Linden, Alabama, on 11 March 1962.
7. King refers to Abernathy’s wife, Juanita, and his children, Juandalynn, Donzaleigh, and Ralph David III.
8. Abernathy preached at West Hunter in early May 1961 (“Rev. Abernathy to Preach at West Hunter,” Atlanta Daily World, 6 May 1961).
9. In his autobiography, Abernathy recalled initially not being interested in leaving Montgomery or his congregation at First Baptist Church (And the Walls, p. 193).
Source: SCLCR-GAMK, Southern Christian Leadership Conference Records, 1954–1970, Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Inc., Atlanta, Ga.