Richard M. Owens, 98; was dean of Boston's black clergy
The Rev. Richard M. Owens began his career as a minister while still a boy in short pants in the South. Licensed to preach when in high school, he was called the ''boy deacon" in Halifax County, Va., where he mesmerized listeners with his charisma and passion.
Rev. Owens was just as effective and beloved during his 45 years at
In his 1995 autobiography, ''I Wanted to Preach," Rev. Owens explained why his ministry reached far beyond the pulpit to fill the needs of the black community. ''While I wanted to preach, and preach I did, I soon discovered that preaching was not just in the pulpit alone and that my ministry was not confined to the church alone. The courts, the streets, the prisons, and the neighborhoods are excellent places to witness the redemptive love of Jesus and the saving power of the Gospel."
The book was co-written by Robert Hayden.
Rev. Owens, who continued his ministry on a less formal basis long after he retired from Peoples Baptist in 1979, died Wednesday at Arrowhead Health Care in Riverdale, Ga. He was 98 and had moved from the Boston area to College Park, Ga., five years ago to be close to his family.
Even after Rev. Owens retired, he made himself available to conduct weddings and funerals and to be there for any other community need, said the Rev. Wesley A. Roberts, Peoples Baptist's current pastor.
In April, Rev. Owens traveled from Georgia to Roxbury to attend the dedication of the reopened Owens-Roberts Center, a meeting place for community groups.
Founded 200 years ago, Peoples Baptist Church was the first African-American church in New England and is the oldest black Baptist church outside of the South, Roberts said.
As an example of Rev. Owens's community activism, Roberts recalled his initiative in 1971 to create a 135-unit housing project, now known as Camfield Estates, in Roxbury.
The Rev. Michael Haynes, retired pastor of Roxbury's 12th Baptist Church, described Rev. Owens as having been ''a sort of the model minister for ministers in this town. He was known as the dean of Boston's black clergy. The scriptural term for him would be Barnabas in the New Testament, who encouraged the apostle Paul in his ministry," Haynes said.
''His approach was bringing people together," Haynes said. ''He was not part of arguments or fights but was a reconciler. He was the first black to preside over The American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts. He marched with Dr. Martin Luther King when he came to Boston. He was the first black to sit on the board of trustees of New England Baptist Hospital."
Richard McLaughlin Owens was born on a farm in Vernon Hill, Halifax County, Va., the youngest of 16 children of Richard Carlton and Elizabeth (Logan) Owens.
All the children were expected to do farm chores before and after their one-mile hike to school. Young Richard ''carried the water for them all," his daughter, Jean Peterson of Atlanta, Ga., said. It didn't stop him from making an early entry in what he later described as his ''destiny" as a preacher.
''Whenever any of the farm animals died, Dad always gave the sermons at their funerals," Peterson said.
After high school, Rev. Owens preached at the New Vernon Baptist Church in Halifax County, Va. He was ordained three years later at Jerusalem Baptist Church in Roanoke, Va. He earned his bachelor of arts degree from the Virginia Theological Seminary and College in Lynchburg, Va., in 1930 and, after several ministries in Virginia, he came north to attend Andover Newton Theological School.
In 1937, Rev. Owens married Viola Mabel Coleman. That same year, he graduated from Andover Newton, ''one of its earliest black graduates," according to the Rev. Eddie S. O'Neal of Randolph, who had taught there. ''He was an extraordinary individual and a very dedicated pastor," O'Neal said of Rev. Owens.
Rev. Owens came to Peoples Baptist Church in 1934 as assistant pastor and became pastor two years later on the death of his predecessor. During his years here, Rev. Owens sat on many boards and received many awards and honors.
In 1954, Lynchburg Theological Seminary gave him an honorary doctorate.
His parishioners did not forget him. Beatrice Busby of Roxbury said she remembers how Rev. Owens renovated Peoples Baptist and replaced the old straw-filled seating pads with new ones, and how he obtained new stained glass windows for the church.
''The church grew with his leadership," she said. ''And, he had a lovely voice and would always sing a hymn before his sermon. If you or someone in your family was sick, he was always there for you." She recalled, ''He was a very fatherly minister."
In addition to his daughter, Rev. Owens leaves one grandchild.
A funeral will be held Tuesday at noon in Christians for Change Baptist Church in College Park, Ga.
