The Rev. J.H. Flakes, Jr. Celebrates 50 years at Fourth Street Missionary Baptist Church

Sitting in a leather chair in the book-lined library of his elegant Sears Woods home last week, the Rev. J.H. Flakes Jr. conceded that he’s come a long way from his impoverished childhood in the 1930s in Pumpkin Bottom, one of the poorest areas of Phenix City.

The road wasn’t always smooth for Flakes, who celebrates 50 years as pastor of the venerable Fourth Street Missionary Baptist Church today. A high school dropout who turned to gambling and alcohol to numb the pain of poverty, he would ultimately set aside those vices as a young man and turn to the pulpit.

He would marry and raise a family, earn his GED and college degree, take the reins of one of the most influential churches in the black community and become a central figure in the local civil rights movement and a champion for social justice.

But as a teenager, the pulpit seemed an unlikely destination for Flakes. He dropped out of school in the 10th grade and went to work because that’s what all his friends were doing.

“It was devastating to my father,” he said. “He just knew that I was going to stay in school and go on to be an educator.

“He told me, ‘If you quit school and stay here, you’ll have to buy your own food, pay rent, take care of your own clothes, take care of your own self because I’m out of it.’”

Then, after getting married at age 17, he did anything but settle down.

“I was wild,” he recalled. “That was a difficult period, a very difficult period for my wife. I would not say I was an alcoholic, but I drank heavily and gambled. I just did not take care of my family. I came home every Saturday night broke.”

In the midst of his wild times, when he was 21, his father died and he was left with no outside support.

“I went through a terrible time, almost to the point of taking my life,” he said. “But God, in his miraculous ways, saved me.”

It was at this time that Flakes felt called to preach, which elicited an interesting response from his young wife, Robena.

“She said, ‘Ain’t no way God would call you,’” Flakes said. “She said she would leave me and go back home if I did it.

“Well, she’s been with me 57 years now … and she hasn’t gone home yet.”

After a year of discernment with his pastor, he began to fill in at local churches, handling a lot of funerals and occasionally conducting Sunday services. After about four years of part-time work, he was called to be pastor of Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Phenix City, where he remains after 53 years.

He was also working as youth minister at Fourth Street Baptist under its pastor, the Rev. Henry Harris, who had been there since 1925. Harris died in 1961, and a few months later Flakes was called to be pastor.

Flakes would spend the next few years not only being pastor of two churches, but driving back and forth to Nashville, Tenn., where he was working on his degree from American Baptist Theological Seminary.

A growing church

Since Flakes took over at Fourth Street, the congregation has grown from about 600 members to about 3,000, he said. While growing the church, Flakes was also growing a reputation as a leader in the civil rights movement. At a time when relations between whites and blacks were volatile, when race riots erupted across the country and Bull Connor was turning the dogs loose on black protesters in Alabama, several people in Columbus were reaching across the divide, seeking to heal the rift.

Among those people were Bill Turner, patriarch of the W.C. Bradley Co., and Flakes, for whom the effort was anything but natural.

“Remember, back when I was growing up in Pumpkin Bottom, whatever happened in Phenix City, the black man was guilty until proven innocent. So when we saw the police coming, we were like rabbits. We had to run or we’d be arrested, or beaten,” he recalled. “I had a bit of hostility. Back then, I didn’t think that there were any good white folks.”

But nothing was going to be accomplished without both sides working together, he said. And something had to be done.

“We still had the segregation, we still had the brutality, we still had social and economic injustice. I just knew something had to be done,” he said. “So we challenged the system. And in challenging the system, I learned of Bill Turner. I found him to be a Christian man. Though he is rich and has all that he has, he is a person who has a passion for Columbus and a passion for race relations.”

Through meetings with Turner, Flakes and other leaders from both sides, the Urban League of Columbus was founded and later One Columbus.

Turner recalled that effort as difficult for those on both sides. Those reaching out across the racial divide of that day often were criticized and even ostracized by their own, he said.

“He was one of several people who came together and decided that we had to learn to work together if we were going to have a good community,” Turner said. “He was a courageous man who stepped in there and helped the community. It was kind of a no-win situation for blacks and whites. But we did come together and work together.

“It’s been a great relationship, and one that I treasure,” he added.

In addition to being involved in social justice issues, Fourth Street has been home to much of the black political power structure. U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, was a longtime member until he moved to Albany, Ga. Columbus Councilor and Mayor Pro-Tem Evelyn Turner-Pugh is a member, as is former Councilor Nathan Suber.

Bishop took to the floor of the House of Representatives recently and read a tribute to Flakes into the Congressional Record. Among the historical narrative and lists of tributes and awards, it included a personal note: “Dr. Flakes has served as a spiritual advisor to me for many years, particularly during the 24 years I was a member of the Fourth Street Missionary Baptist Church,” it read. “Through trouble or triumph, he was always available and has always given me wise counsel. Mrs. Flakes is like a mother to me and I am proud each time she refers to me as ‘son.’”

One of Flakes’ sons, the Rev. J.H. Flakes III, has been in the ministry for 21 years, the last five at Fourth Street. He now serves as co-pastor with his father and is expected to take over as pastor one day. He said he has learned much from his father and looks forward, should he be called to lead the church, to having his father around for advice and counsel.

“It’s amazing how much I’ve learned from him in terms of leadership style, in how to shepherd the flock,” he said. “He’s taught me how to listen and how to be compassionate and mostly how to be a servant leader. I look forward to having him here for guidance.”

But the elder Flakes, 75, said he is looking forward to traveling and writing in his retirement, not to hanging onto power or position. When he retires, he said, he’ll be retired.

“Some time in the future, I know I will retire,” he said. “I won’t be in there trying to tell him what to do or tell the congregation what to do. When I retire, I’ll retire.”

Does the son think the father can just let go after all these years?

“The bigger question is, will we let him?”