PAW Bishop Phillip Coleman dead at 81
 

I thought some of you who are familiar with the Jackson area would be interested to know this. I didn't realize he was that ill. We'll pray for the Coleman family...


http://www.wlbt.com/global/story.asp?s=7162507

Jackson 10/03/07
Bishop Phillip Coleman Dies at 81
Bishop Coleman Dies at 81

The longtime pastor of a local church has died.

Bishop Phillip Coleman, Sr., who led the Greater Bethlehem Temple on Robinson Street for more than 50 years, died Tuesday night after battling cancer. He was 81.

It was 1954 when Coleman founded the church he pastored. The church's website says it had 800 members when it moved from its location on Lynch Street to its present home on Robinson, where the membership grew to more than 2500

Bishop was a great man and a Personal friend. He was not PAW he was PCAF. (Pentecostal Churches of the Apostolic Faith.)

No Way!!!!!!!

The passing of a legacy

Thank you for this correction!

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pb...0371/1001/NEWS

'Real giant in the faith' passes on

By Jean Gordon
jmgordon@clarionledger.com



Coleman

Members of Greater Bethlehem Temple Apostolic Faith Church in Jackson said their pastor, Bishop Phillip Coleman Sr., faced his death head-on.

"He knew he was dying, and he let us know he wasn't afraid to go home and be with the Lord," Laura Anderson said. "This is what he lived for."

Coleman died late Tuesday after a battle with cancer. He was 81.

A child of the Great Depression raised in a farming family in Raymond, Coleman went on to found a church that grew into one of the largest congregations in Jackson.

"He was small in stature, but he had a presence about him as a real giant in the faith," said friend Bishop Ronnie Crudup, senior pastor of New Horizon Church International in Jackson. "I knew him as a very tenacious man for Jesus Christ."

Coleman started Greater Bethlehem Temple in 1954 with five members meeting in his parents' home. Today the church claims 3,000 members with 1,500-2,500 regular worshippers.

Along with touching the lives of its members, the church has become known for its jail ministry, an outreach to the homeless and for housing numerous Hurricane Katrina evacuees, Anderson said.

It's also known for its contributions to its Robinson Road neighborhood, where the church maintains a campus and rents out several homes.

"He was a strong advocate for community and community redevelopment," Crudup said of Coleman, "and to see our people, particularly African Americans, do better for themselves in both their faith and their everyday lives."

Before becoming a minister, Coleman earned an associate's degree in radio technology from Jackson's Campbell College, which closed in 1964, and served a tour of duty in the Air Force during World War II.

Early in his marriage to the former Sarah McNeil, Coleman moved his family to Detroit, seeking better job opportunities.

While there, he met the founder of the Pentecostal Churches of the Apostolic Faith Association and joined the ministry. The organization is one of a number of Pentecostal church associations.

At the time of his death, Coleman served as the diocesan bishop for the Ninth Episcopal District of the Pentecostal Churches of the Apostolic Faith, which includes churches in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee.

"His family has always been considered a close friend in the community," said Hinds County District Attorney-elect Robert Smith.

"He contributed so much to west Jackson and to many throughout the U.S. and world."

Smith said he was notified of Coleman's death late Tuesday evening by one of Coleman's children.

It was Coleman's endorsement, Smith said, that helped him defeat incumbent Faye Peterson in August.

"After his prayer and consideration, he said I was the best candidate," said Smith, who is not a member of Greater Bethlehem. "I do believe that played a significant role in the election."

Jackson Mayor Frank Melton announced Wednesday that he ordered all the city's flags be lowered to half-staff until Oct. 13 in honor of Coleman as well as Mario Whipps, a 16-year-old killed in a September car wreck on I-220, and Corey Rhodes, a 17-year-old Lanier High School student who died on the basketball court in 2005.

"This has not been done before, but I feel strongly about it," said Melton, who called Coleman a good adviser. "Bishop Coleman was kind of a statesman for the African-American community."

Coleman preached his last sermon three weeks ago, Anderson said, before his illness prevented him from returning to the pulpit.

She said Coleman's successor has not been determined.

The church employs 26 ministers, Anderson said, three of whom are Coleman's children.

The tentative funeral date is Oct. 13, she said.

Coleman is survived by his wife of 56 years, 13 of his 14 children and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. All of his children and their families live in Jackson and belong to Greater Bethlehem Temple Apostolic Faith Church, Anderson said.


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Staff writer Nicklaus Lovelady contributed to this report.
To comment on this story, call Jean Gordon at (601) 961-7291.

Wow.

Philip Coleman.

I had quite forgotten the name but remember him now from my JCM days. His church had bought the "old" church on 1505 Robinson after First UPC built the "new" church on 3425 Robinson.

This of course was over 30 years ago.

He had such a smooth voice. When some of us would visit, he'd say how happy he was to have "the young people from Elder Craft's church."

So he pastored that church all that time.

Did his church end up buying the other property at 3425 Robinson after First UPC moved and downsized?

No, I can't recall the name of the church that purchased it, but it wasn't Bishop Coleman's church...I think it was missionary baptist. I went a couple of services with my grandparents after it had been purchased and FPC was still holding services there. I want to say the name was Black's Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, but someone who drives by there more often (Lord protect them) might correct me. The congregation lived up to the name :)

I was visiting with Bro. Craft recently (June) and he told me that this was indeed the church that they (Bro. Craft and congregation) sold to Bishop Coleman and congregation.

I think we're talking about two different things. I'm talking about the one that FPC was in just before they moved to their current location. You're talking about the one before that one (two buildings ago), I think.

You are correct!