Sunday, September 26, 1999
Pastor guides community as well as church
Hamilton honored for 25 years work
BY ALLEN HOWARD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
He earned the title of a country preacher in a Cincinnati suburb.
The Rev. Donald E. Hamilton liked the title because he said his hometown of Loveland was a country town when he served as an associate pastor of the First Missionary Baptist Church.
But today he will be honored by his congregation for his 25 years of work as a city preacher in a church in one of Cincinnati's most depressed neighborhoods.
“Coming from the country to the city was a big change in ministering to a congregation,” said the Rev. Mr. Hamilton, 77, pastor of the Mount Carmel Baptist Church, East End. “I guess I can say I received my basic training for ministering to an inner-city congregation when I served three years as an associate pastor of the New Mission Baptist Church in Madisonville before coming here,” he said.
In 1974, after the death of the Rev. T.L. Barron, the Rev. Mr. Hamilton took over as pastor of the Mount Carmel Baptist Church. The East End church sat in the middle of a community where 1,021 of its 2,424 residents lived below the federal poverty line.
“But in spite of the poverty level, the East End was a strategic location with a beautiful view of surrounding Cincinnati,” he said.
While he took over the reins of an aggressive congregation, he recognized the church had to be a part of finding a solution to one of the area's major problems — housing.
Because of its strategic view along the Ohio River shoreline, the East End was embroiled in a battle with some residents clinging to an old housing stock and new developers wanting upscale housing.
The Rev. Mr. Hamilton became a member of the East End Community Council Housing Community, which was trying to maintain the historic housing while bringing in development of low-income, middle-income and upscale apartments.
“If you drive down Eastern Avenue now, you probably will see the finest example where that kind of housing mixture has taken place,” he said.
He carried out his ministerial duties while involving the church in community problems.
He served as president of the Baptist Ministers Conference from 1979 to 1983 and in 1990 was named pastor of the year by the Baptist Ministers Conference.
“He has been very effective in drawing the community together,” said Chana Graham, church secretary. “He started a food pantry at the church.”
The Rev. Mr. Hamilton led the church in carrying out a goal left unfinished by the former pastor, the late Rev. Mr. Barron, by building an education annex to the church, said Dorothy Ellis, a lifelong church member.
“The education unit was a dream of Rev. Barron, who died before he could get it built. Rev. Hamilton took over where he left off and completed the task,” she said.
He also started a scholarship fund in honor of the Rev. Mr. Barron, and set up a children's church ministry.
His attention now is turning back to buildings. This time, he plans to build a new church on the present site at 3101 Eastern Ave.
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