Bishop Mark Gilkey, who leads the Kansas Southwest Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the Church of God in Christ, says he remembers a time when ministers were the leaders of our community.
At the forefront of that leadership, Gilkey recalls, was the Wichita Ministerial League (WML). They led community marches, walked the streets and calmed the protestors during the riots of the 60s and went to city hall to confront city officials about policies, policing and laws negatively impacting the community.
“They were a voice for the voiceless,” says Gilkey, who just took over as president of the Wichita Ministerial League at the beginning of this year. “They were a strong organization led by strong leaders.”
Some members of Wichita’s Black community are banking on Bishop Gilkey to be the strong leader who will bring the League back to its glory days.
He expressed his vision for a stronger League during a recent WML sponsored luncheon. More than 100 ministers and community leaders attended the event with many of them leaving committed to reengaging with the organization that had dwindled to fewer than a dozen active members.
Rev. Earl Burkhalter, Senior Pastor of Strangers Rest Baptist Church, attended the luncheon and has reactivated his membership and commitment to the League. He had stopped being involved with the League because he found it “redundant.
“He [Bishop Gilkey]has a vision of what it [The League] needs to be and he’s trying to be innovative and pull people together,” says Bukhalter, who from inactive, has signed on to be a member of Gilkey’s executive committee. “He has a vision for the organization; for a stronger League and for a stronger community.”
Bishop Gilkey’s Vision
Bishop Gilkey, who always remained active with the League, served as both second and first-vice president of the organization, helpling out and supporting the president as requested.
Becoming president wasn’t his ambition, but when the position became open this time he says the only reason he stepped up was because he felt led by God.
“It definitely was God ordained, I saw where there was a place for growth.” said Bishop Gilkey, “I want [the WML] to do more. We have been fragmented and operating in silos. If we can bring ourselves together as a united front, we can be more powerful than one church over here and a group over there.
“If they can just see the power of the unity in our community of the ecumenical and community leaders coming together as one voice, then politicians, elected officials and law enforcement can see ‘that community is united and they’re standing together.’
Burkhalter says what impressed him was Gilkey’s vision of bringing the League members together across denominations and age groups; from the baby boomers to the Gen Z. He also wants to open the organization to lay ministers and wants their voices heard.
Currently, membership in the organization is limited to active and retired pastors or ordained ministers. Gilkey wants to add a new Friends of the League membership category. He sees that group as important to building and demonstrating the organization’s strength and power.
In addition to contributing to WML’s mission, these would be individuals – beyond just the ministers -the organization could call on to show up in numbers as a demonstration of the organization’s power. As a demonstration of the community’s unity, as well as his desire for the League to be proactive instead of reactive, Gilkey says he’s planning a Unity in the Community event, not as a reactive response to any particular action, but as a way of showing the power of a unified community.
Although a date has not been set for the event, he hopes the event,attract 500 to 1000 people to march from down 17th Street to McAdams Park for a unity gathering.
In the meantime, Bishop Gilkey, who admits to having a gift for administration and organizing, is guiding the League to bring about effective change. He’s established 16 committees, appointed committee chairs and vice chairs, and has them working on building the league’s programming and advocacy in areas such as civic and civil responsibility, education and health and wellness, just to name a few.
In addition, Gilkey says the League is conducting an assessment to discover the three most important needs in the community and to examine how the League can best contribute to those needs and making the community a better place to live.
“It’s going to be work but the vision is here,” Gilkey says.