The Lord Will Provide: The Life & Times of Rev. William H. Copeland

By William H. Copeland Jr. and Monica R. Fountain

PASTOR. THERE ONCE WAS A TIME when that word alone was held sacred. A time when being a pastor was not a vocation but a calling. Not so much a profession as a confession of the faith and purpose held by those divinely called to the ministry of servant leadership.

“The Lord Will Provide: The Life & Times of William H. Copeland Jr.” is a reminder of those times. A reminder of the men—and women—who embraced that sacred calling at a time in America when the role of pastor, particularly in the African-American community, entailed wearing the hat of community leader, public servant, spiritual counselor, social advocate and being the unflinching face and voice that spoke truth to power. It was a weighty and perhaps unenviable mission—regarded as both sacred and monumental.

Reverend William H. Copeland Jr. is a fighter. Not in the brutish or violent sense. He is not a pugilist in the ring. Not a street brawler. He is a warrior. God’s warrior. A fighter for the Kingdom and for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A fighter for civil rights. A defender of the powerless, the poor, the hopeless and disenfranchised. He has been a fighter for as long as he can remember.

The youngest of 14 children born in Dodson, Louisiana, he had to fight with unrelenting purpose all his life. He was a sickly child. An answer to his mother’s prayers for a son, he teetered between life and death, cradled by the winds of hope and the prayers of ancestors who endured the Middle Passage and tortuous American slave plantations with a fervent faith in God and their eyes set on the prize.

Born and raised in the segregated South, a black boy, he learned to fight to survive. Through segregation, Jim Crow and the Civil Rights movement, he has fought with every fiber of his being.

This book is the story of his American life. A memoir of the Life & Times of Reverend William H. Copeland Jr., as told to his daughter Monica Fountain, journalist, writer and formerly a reporter for the Chicago Tribune.

A pastor’s story, it is a personal human journey about the sacrifices, struggles, triumphs and even the failings of a good man with a heart for God. It is the story of what it truly means to be a pastor, to love the people of God.

It is one man’s story and yet reflective of the journeys of a generation of pastors who preceded a new dispensation of prosperity doctrine, mega-churches and preacher as celebrity.

It is a personal story that, at its heart, calls the church to reflect and to return to its roots of steadfast faith, uncompromising truth, deep spirituality, and social justice. It is a story that calls upon the church to be the church, unwavering in principle and standing unmovable on biblical promise. To stand on four words that for William H. Copeland have shone like diamonds, even in the darkest hours, all of his life: “The Lord Will Provide”

• Language: English
• Publisher: John W. Fountain
• Release date: Dec 4, 2019
• ISBN: 9781733574600

William H. Copeland Jr.

For almost 50 years, Rev. William H. Copeland, Jr. has been a shining star in the Kankakee community. Called to pastor the Morning Star Baptist Church in 1971, Rev. Copeland has consistently shown his concern not only for the souls and the spiritual wellbeing of mankind, but also for the social conditions people daily face. Rev. Copeland has battled for the rights of every child to have equal access to a quality education. He has organized marches against gangs and violence and helped to negotiate gang truces in the Kankakee community. He has been a leader in the fight against racism and injustice throughout the Kankakee community and his service and accomplishments have been recognized nationally. Born in Winn Parish, Louisiana, to Georgia Ann and William H. Copeland Sr., Rev. Copeland was the last of 14 children. After completing high school in Winfield, Louisiana, he earned a bachelor’s of science degree from Missouri Western University in St. Joseph, Missouri. He has also been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity degree from Morris College, Sumter, S.C. (1975) and McKinley Theological Seminary, Jackson, Miss. (1977). Rev. Copeland is a veteran of the U. S. Army and served in the U.S. Army Combat Engineers from 1952 to 1955, including eighteen months in Germany. He was honorably discharged in 1955. In February 1967, Rev. Copeland was called to pastor the First Baptist Church of Elwood, Kansas. He served in Elwood for five years. Rev. Copeland also worked as an elementary and junior high school teacher and has teaching certificates from the State of Kansas and Missouri. He coached football and basketball in Elwood. In 1971, Rev. Copeland was called to pastor the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church. Under the tenure of Pastor Copeland, the Morning Star purchased land and erected a half-million dollar edifice in 1976 for which the mortgage was fully satisfied in 1986 and purchased and renovated what now serves as the Morning Star Community Center. Pastor Copeland is married to Leola Copeland. He has two sons, Walter Klein and Kenneth Edward Copeland; and one daughter, Monica Fountain.

Book preview

The Reverend William H. Copeland Jr. as a young man circa 1960s.

The Lord Will Provide

The Life & Times of Rev. William H. Copeland Jr.

William H. Copeland Jr.

with Monica Fountain

WestSide Press Publishing

Chicago

Copyright © 2019 William H Copeland and Monica Fountain

Published in the United States by WestSide Press Publishing LLC.

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

For information, address WestSide Press Publishing, P.O. Box 485, Matteson, IL 60443.

Book cover design by Laura Sebold

Book design and composition by John W. Fountain

Set in Minion Pro

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018948081

Copeland, William H., 1933

Fountain, Monica., 1968

The Lord Will Provide: The Life & Times of Rev. William H. Copeland Jr./

by William H. Copeland with Monica Fountain — 1st ed. I S B N

978-0-9814858-7-4

Dedication

Every walking, breathing, living person has a unique story to tell.

But very few people have the privilege or the expertise

to put their story in print.

In these pages, I am privileged to tell my story.

The destiny of the written word is unpredictable.

The Apostle Paul never could have dreamed that letters he wrote in the first century would still be read

by millions of people in the 21st century.

So I cannot imagine at this hour, the possible longevity of the words I write today or whose life my story might touch.

This story is not written with an eye on the cash register

or with marketing and money as the motive.

This is my story. This is my song.

Praising my Savior all the daylong.

I hope that in my story you will find your own story of faith.

At the least, I hope this book motivates you to write your own story.

—Rev. William H. Copeland Jr.

"And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh…"

Genesis 22:13-14

ContentS

About the Book

Foreword

Dedication

PART I Genesis

Chapter 1—Roots

Chapter 2—School Days

PART II Exodus

Chapter 3—Great Migration

Chapter 4— Life, Love & Marriage

Chapter 5—Called

Chapter 6—Elwood

Chapter 7—Bright & Morning Star

PART III The Book of Acts

Chapter 8—Ministry

Chapter 9—Building

Chapter 10—A Drum Major for Justice

PART IV Revelations

Chapter 11—Retirement

Chapter 12—Reflections

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

About The Authors

Appendix

Photos

About WestSide Press

Other Books by WestSide Press

Rev. William H. Copeland Jr.

Scripture

About The Lord Will Provide

Until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter.

Pastor. There once was a time when that word alone was held sacred. A time when being a pastor was not a vocation but a calling. Not so much a profession as a confession of the faith and purpose held by those divinely called to the ministry of servant leadership.

The Lord Will Provide: The Life & Times of William H. Copeland Jr. is a reminder of those times. A reminder of the men—and women—who embraced that sacred calling at a time in America when the role of pastor, particularly in the African-American community, entailed wearing the hat of community leader, public servant, spiritual counselor, social advocate and being the unflinching face and voice that spoke truth to power. It was a weighty and perhaps unenviable mission—regarded as both sacred and monumental.

Pastor. Not for sale. Possessing a deeply divine understanding that the Gospel is too precious and time too short, the most faithful and diligent sought to walk in this great calling, bearing the cross, even amid their own human frailty and limitation, with their eyes set on the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Imperfect men called for such a time.

Their legacy is a legacy of righteousness. A legacy of fortitude, faithfulness, and love—sometimes in the bitter face of racism, discrimination and menacing hate.

Theirs is a legacy of persistence, perseverance, and posterity. A living faith rooted in the power of God and in the understanding that God uses human vessels—ordinary people—to do extraordinary things.

In this generation, when self-sacrificial servant leadership can seem so severely lacking, theirs is a legacy of being reachable, touchable, approachable, accessible and involved, as purveyors of a social Gospel that not only seeks to save human souls but to heal them. To show a more excellent way in this life. To build community rather than buildings alone, which pale in comparison to that most precious of all sanctuaries, called the human soul. How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things! Romans 10:15

This is the legacy of Reverend William H. Copeland Jr.

Here at WestSide Press Publishing, we can think of no greater honor than for this book to be the first of many, beyond those already written by founder John W. Fountain, to be published under our banner.

Co-written by Fountain’s wife Monica Copeland Fountain, Reverend William and Leola Copeland’s daughter, The Lord Will Provide is one man’s journey of faith, hope and clarity. The story of one pastor. Of a servant-leader cut from the cloth of a generation of African-American pastors with deep soul ties to black slaves whose faith and soul’s cry formed the rock of social uplift upon which generations now stand.

His is a story of a do-something faith rooted in tenacity and in the audacity of hope, even the hope of a mother for a sickly child stricken and given up on by doctors who consigned him to death. His is a story of life. Of resurrection, of the power of prayer, faith and works. Proof that the Lord still provides.

It is a spiritual memoir—one man’s triumphant story. And yet, it is a story that we can all share. One that serves to remind us of the possibilities that exist beyond even the direst of human circumstance. One that causes us to hearken back to Sunday memories of the soul-stirring voice of a deacon rising across the sanctuary in melodic baritone: I love the Lord, he heard my cry…

It is a story that reminds us of once-upon-a-time-on-a-Baptist-Sunday-morning in our lives. A trip back down memory lane to the way we—the church—once were. A pathway to remembrance of those upon whose prayers and faith we now stand. Of the men and women of the African-American pastorate whose tireless labor—of christening and baptizing, of preaching and teaching, of marrying and burying, of building and building up, of unselfishly giving, lifting, and loving—shall not be in vain.

At WestSide Press, we are eternally wed to telling our stories—to the belief that we must tell our own stories in our own voices. And we know of no more important story than this one presented in the pages that follow. A testament of faith—powerful, poignant, uplifting, enduring.

—John W. Fountain, WestSide Press

Foreword

The Lord will provide…

SOMETIMES HE WHISPERED it under his breath. Sometimes he stated it flatly and hurriedly so as to get to the meal and then get on to the next meeting. Usually he proclaimed it as solemnly and earnestly as a four-word sermon; a family affirmation repeated daily so as to embed itself in our psyche. Every day at dinner time during our childhood our father would sit at the head of the kitchen table, bow his head and close his eyes (commanding us to do likewise by his example), then bless the food by saying, The Lord will provide. This habitual refrain was our daily reminder of the goodness of God and the background music for our father’s life.

This memoir will introduce you to a remarkable life. It does not recount every episode of our father’s journey, but it does trace one of the most significant themes of his life. Every biblical character and every saint has a dominant life theme. Moses’s was water. His name reflected his rescue from the Nile as an infant. The apex of his ministry was the crossing of the Red Sea. The nadir was his angry outburst against a rock God had ordained as a source of water. Joseph’s theme was dreams. Paul’s was prison. This book is the unpacking of a significant theme of our father’s life. From sickly child to exemplary husband and father, to revered churchman and civil rights champion, his life has been a constant reaffirmation of the certainty of God’s provision.

As the youngest of fourteen children, he witnessed early and often God miraculous way of making a way. As a father, he made sure that my sister and I never wanted and, in fact, we were afforded opportunities our peers were not. We both not only graduated but earned several advanced degrees without any student loans because his dinner time blessing was more than a perfunctory cliché; it was our family conviction. More than that, our parents have provided a consistent godly witness by living lives of integrity and purpose and by always pointing us to the One who provides.

In his over four decades of pulpit ministry, he was used by God to win countless souls, build buildings and repair people, mentor and influence hundreds of pastors, and leave a remarkable body of solid biblical preaching in the prophetic vein of his preaching heroes Dr. Sandy Ray and Dr. Manuel Scott, Sr. Always forward thinking and technologically savvy, he invested early and often in audio and visual equipment and thus amassed a world class collection of hard to find convention sermons and lectures from the greatest African-American preachers of his generation, several of whom allowed only him to record their sermons. He recorded a preaching album and maintained a robust radio broadcast for decades that rivaled in reach and production values that of ministries with much larger memberships and radio markets.

Time and space do not allow me to reference his often perilous and frequently hilarious exploits as a community organizer and advocate, as public education champion, teacher, and coach, a civil rights pioneer and activist, and a trusted advisor, mentor, and statesman. Read the book. Because he has always punched above his weight class all of the heavyweights in these various fields know his name. I pray that this book will help you to get to know him as well. More importantly, I pray that the melody of his life recorded herein will convince you to adopt our family’s motto, conviction, and faith song: The Lord Will Provide.

—Dr. Kenneth Edward Copeland

PART 1

Genesis

A childhood photo of William H. Copeland (front center) and his family as well as the family dog. Also pictured here are his father William H. Copeland Sr.; his mother Georgia Ann; and two of his nieces, Theola (left) and Henrietta (right); and the family dog whose name was Wimpy.

CHAPTER 1

Roots

i was surrounded by water. Enveloped by the darkness. I could hear the muffled tones of my mother’s voice. I was in the dark, alone and scared although my mother was just within my reach.

At three years old I sat perched on a chair in an enormous tub of steaming hot water. A makeshift tent made out of a sheet covered my head—an attempt to trap the steam inside and to save my life.

My mother and Miss Ella, a short bow-legged woman with light skin, had devised the concoction to sweat the fever out of me. As I sat there in the dark, sweat pouring from my little body, I wondered why my mother had put me in such a precarious position. My little feet dangled from the old wooden chair and I feared falling into the boiling water. Maybe they would hang me out to dry like they did the clothes my mother and sisters washed in the big pot of steaming water, stirring me up, scrubbing all the skin off of me and then hanging me on the clothes line between the trees.

I already had been labeled a sickly child. And for a boy child born in the South in the 1930s, weakness was not an option if you intended to survive.

I came into this world on February 19, 1933, a healthy 10 pounds and the last of 10 children born to William Henry Copeland Sr. and Georgia Ann Wyatt Copeland. The birth certificate said Dodson, Louisiana, located 12 miles north of Winfield and 12 miles south of Jonesboro. But our house was actually in an area called Piney Woods. Dodson just happened to be the closest town to Piney Woods, which was six miles southeast of Dodson on a gravel road and famous for its stately pine trees that pointed up to the heavens. Our house sat a mile off of that gravel road. To the left was our mailbox, Route 1, Box 114. Down a short winding dirt road, at the end of the road sat our house. If you came down that road, you had to be going to our house because the road ran out at our address.

I was born in that house. It was what black folks called a shotgun house and my father built it with his own hands. Our house consisted of four bedrooms, a kitchen, and a dining room, separated by a wall that ran the length of the house from front to back and rooms running parallel on each side. A double-sided fireplace heated the east and west bedrooms. I came into this world in the east bedroom. There was no educated physician to attend my birth. The worn, experienced hands of