Originally created 05/20/06

Pastor plans to join staff of big Chicago church

By Staff Writer

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Here's how the Rev. Otis Moss III became pastor of historic Tabernacle Baptist Church.

When the Augusta church invited him for an interview about nine years ago, he initially turned it down because he couldn't afford to fly to Augusta. A doctoral student at the University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology, he was working as a youth pastor at a Denver church. His wife, Monica, was teaching school.

The next week, however, he was preaching in Atlanta at Ben Hill United Methodist Church. That church's pastor offered to fly him to Augusta that Friday to squeeze in a meeting with Tabernacle's search committee Saturday before coming back to preach at Ben Hill on Sunday.

"That is how God orchestrated it," said the Rev. Moss, 35.

He will preach his last sermon at Tabernacle on May 28. He has accepted a position at the 8,000-plus-member Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.

Tabernacle had a reputation as a very conservative church.

"I didn't think the church would be interested in calling me because of my age," said the pastor, who said that Tabernacle's application was designed to weed out anybody younger than 40.

Ben Hill was a tongue-speaking, holy-dancing, high-energy Pentecostal-style congregation. When it came time for the Rev. Moss to stand up and preach that Sunday, he had to use a flashlight because a storm had knocked out the power. He could hear the young people singing a cappella, but all he could see were the exit signs unless the lightning flashed, he said.

"The worship was very high, incredible, moving," he said. "As I was preaching, I said, 'God stepped out on the air and said, "Let there be light"' - and snap - the lights came on in the church, and the place just went crazy."

The Rev. Moss, stunned for a second, lost his place as he saw people in the congregation "slain in the spirit."

"You would have thought the Second Coming had just happened," he said. "I got a tap on the shoulder, and someone said there are some people here from Augusta who want to speak to you."

At Tabernacle, he has seen the congregation grow from fewer than 200 worshippers each Sunday into a congregation of more than 2,000 members. The church completed a $550,000 renovation of its 1919 building in 2001 and has gone high-tech. Instead of looking at hymn books when they sing, members are looking up at a jumbo screen over the sanctuary.

Tabernacle owns most of the block it is on at 12th Street and Laney-Walker Boulevard. The next pastor will find the church poised to begin building a family life/conference center, debt-free, across the street, according to the minister.

Tabernacle's spaces are maxed out, he said.

"I have staff who share office and desk space, and some who just wander around the building trying to find a place to work," he said.

In Chicago, he will complete his doctoral studies as he shifts into the senior pastor's role during the next two years.

"Don't think that other churches have not approached him," said the Rev. Timothy Owings, a former pastor of First Baptist Church of Augusta. "We were so fortunate to have his ministry these nine years. It speaks volumes about his commitment to the Tabernacle congregation and the ministry that God allowed him to have here."

The ministers became friends shortly after the Rev. Moss started at Tabernacle in 1997.

"The moment I met him, I knew I was in the presence of a very gifted minister and man. He is polished without pretension. He is warm and engaging. I don't know how other people feel. I liked him immediately. We just clicked, and it has been so ever since," Dr. Owings said.

They have swapped pulpits and held joint Sunday evening services at Jessye Norman Amphitheater.

The Rev. Moss has re-energized Tabernacle, said cardiologist Mac Bowman, a longtime member of the church.

"He is the ultimate communicator who makes all people feel comfortable, young and old, educated and less educated," Dr. Bowman said.

The Rev. Moss' preaching was not lost on the Bowman children.

"When we are going to be away, they are asking, 'Are we gong to be back home for church on Sunday?'" he said. "When you have teens who are avidly wanting to be in church and want to be in Bible study and the organizations there, that is truly a wonderful thing."

Reach Virginia Norton at (706) 823-3336 or virginia.norton@augustachronicle.com.