With Bibles and notebooks in hand, men who were both members and visitors of Alfred Street Baptist Church filed into the building one early and recent Saturday morning, perhaps because they knew New York Knicks Coach Jim Cleamons would be there, or because they knew there would be a message from the pastor, or perhaps due to just the simple camaraderie that being at church on an early Saturday morning would bring.
On Saturday, May 30, Alfred Street held its first, community-wide one-day men’s conference. Conference presenters included Alfred Street’s Pastor Howard-John Wesley, Pastor Donté Hickman from Southern Baptist Church in Baltimore, and New York Knicks Assistant Coach Jim Cleamons. This was Cleamon’s first visit to the church, and he along with the other presenters gave messages of encouragement to both members and visitors of the church.
“This is for what’s been happening with black men,” said Wesley, referring to recent conflicts in the news. This time, rather than host an internal retreat, the event was open to non-members of the church as well. “I’ve seen some from ages eight to 82,” said Wesley as attendees trickled into the church, some from as far as Baltimore and Fredericksburg. There were more 300 in attendance, and the goal was for each of them to leave the conference prepared to take an active role in their communities, or to continue taking an active role.
“Improvement is a daily process,” said Cleamons, whose coaching philosophy involves positive teaching techniques. “I’m not sure what the men need to hear today, but I would like to talk about leadership development, even for myself,” he said. “I think the most important take-away from a conference like this is to have a plan.”
Hickman’s father was 17 years old when Hickman was born. Hickman said this that taught him how important it was to have an establishment of self as well as self-awareness.
“We have to change the dynamic of our culture and society,” he said.
Those in attendance had backgrounds as diverse as those of the presenters. Rodney Black, from Alexandria, said that he was once in debt and homeless, but said the message that stood out to him the most was not to be intimidated.
Twenty-two year old Daniel Gillison, III, decided to attend after his parents talked to him about it. “I’m trying to make the right personal decisions,” he said. “I’m trying to understand the past but also most past it.”
The conference also included question-and-answer sessions, concluding with lunch afterwards.