Owen Chapel AME Alamogordo A Service Full of History & an Invitation by the Pastor Warren Robinson

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It has been several years since I had stepped foot into a house of worship due to multiple excuses, of which I won't debate here. 

However, early in the week, I had a very positive conversation with the Reverend Warren Robinson in relation to my gathering a history on the effort by Alamogordo's African American community to get the Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Road named. The Reverend was full of very correct  information on that effort from 2005, and of the politics of Alamogordo, especially as applied to the poor and persons of color.

In addition to our conversation;  Rev. Robinson invited me to visit his church, and to attend a service. So with that invitation, instead of my catching up on sleep on Sundays, as per my normal routine, I took the Reverend up on his offer, and joined his services, today.

At 10:50 I entered the small very cozy and comfortable church. I was warmly received and settled into my pew toward the back of the church. Every member made it a point to come up and say, hello throughout the day and to make me feel very welcome. The service was unique to me in that it also included several lessons in history of the black experience. 

One was of the only white woman killed in Alabama by the Klan during the fight for integration and equality of the 1960s, one of the founding family of the AME Church in Alamogordo in 1932 and one of a very interesting former slave from Mississippi that went from slave in 1812 through a journey to Utah and ultimately to Los Angeles where she fought for her freedom and won it.

This story was of Bridget “Biddy” Mason who was born August 15, 1818. This inspiring woman not only got her freedom, she became a land owner in Los Angeles, created the first for pay parking lot in LA during the times of horse and buggy and ultimately gained wealth that would make her a multi-millionaire in modern times.

At her death, Mason was one of the wealthiest women in Los Angeles. For reasons never fully explained, she was buried in an unmarked grave at Evergreen Cemetery. In the years after her death, a bitter family feud erupted over her estate; once it was finally settled, the “Mason Block” was put in the hands of her grandson Robert, who became the wealthiest black man in Los Angeles County. The family held onto Mason’s cherished “first homestead” until the Depression.

Over the past 30 years, Mason’s memory has been reclaimed by the city of Los Angeles. In 1988, at a ceremony attended by Mayor Tom Bradley, the First AME Church placed a memorial stone on her unmarked grave. A year later, a memorial in her honor was erected in a small park behind the Bradbury Building near Third and Spring. But perhaps the best memorial to Biddy Mason is her own words, remembered by her great-granddaughter Gladys, decades after her death:

If you hold your hand closed, nothing good can come of it. The open hand is blessed, for it gives abundance, even as it receives.

The lessons of Biddy Mason were alive and in practice at the AME Church in Alamogordo this fine Sunday. 

At the conclusion of the service, a meal was served to all who attended the service and welcome to all and anyone in Alamogordo. The pastor explained to me that, "those who pray to together and dine together, stay together."  All day long, I've reflected on those words, and I do believe Pastor Robinson to be progressive in his approach to the ministry and wise. When I asked about the small numbers in attendance, he explained to me very kindly. that YouTube and the internet are equally important to the modern church.

I enjoyed the service today, at Alamogordo's Owen AME Church. The church was a true diverse experience with a large number of Caucasian congregants, which should not have surprised me. That was always the case in San Francisco at the AME services by the Dr. Rev Cecil Williams as well. But in Alamogordo, I was not sure, what to expect. What I found, was a congregation with a heart bigger than the vast church of Cecil Williams in San Francisco, but equal in its mission to serve the word of faith.

Thank you Reverend Robinson, for the invitation. I plan on taking at least one Sunday a month to attend during my times in Alamogordo. And thank your congregation for their warm wishes and hospitality. I was and am honored, I found today to be a very fond day in Alamogordo, and for that, I too give thanks.

Let's get more people in the community to support this small, historical and very important house of worship to our community. Services are every Sunday at 11 am and they are open to everyone! Everyone welcome was truly practiced at this house of worship. 

So don your mask and pop over to 423 Delaware Avenue and see what a truly welcoming congregation and a warm meal is all about next Sunday and one of these upcoming Sunday's I may just see you there. 

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