New Hillcrest Baptist pastor hopes to grow congregation of 82-year-old church

Hillcrest Baptist Church, an El Sobrante church forged amid the sweat and determination of Kaiser Richmond Shipyard workers during World War II, has a new pastor as it prepares to celebrate its 82^nd anniversary this summer.

The Rev. Dr. Curtis Flemming assumed the post in March, the first permanent pastor there since the death of its longest-serving leader, Theodore Goslen, in 2022.

Flemming hails from South Carolina and comes well aware of Hillcrest Baptist’s roots and its importance to the surrounding community.

“I feel the weight of that history,” he told Richmondside. “I have been entrusted with leadership and that is one of the most sacred obligations you can have.”

Flemming, a third-generation pastor, wants to see the church grow as it continues its mission of being a hub for surrounding neighborhoods.

“I hope we continue to be an integral part in the life of our community. A place for refuge and restoration,” he said. “We’re on a hill, so I hope we can be a light to the community and demonstrate our faith that way.”

Hillcrest’s southern Baptist history

In the 1940s, the city of Richmond was bustling and expanding as its four shipyards constructed 747 ships as part of the industrialization efforts of World War II.

Many of those workers were Black Americans recruited from the deep South, and a significant portion of them were southern Baptists.

There wasn’t yet a southern Baptist church in the Richmond area, so in 1943 Elijah Waltman of Vallejo and the Rev. A.J. Boyd organized the First Southern Missionary Baptist Church.

Their initial meeting was in Waltman’s living room on July 4, 1943. A 20-by-30-foot building was then erected on South 47^th Street, but that space quickly proved to be too small. The facility was expanded in 1944 to hold up to 275 people.

An adjoining lot was purchased in 1946, and a three-story building was built. The name was changed to the First Southern Baptist Church of Richmond, and its Sunday school attendance surpassed 700.

In 1963, the church trustees were able to purchase an 11-acre site on Hillcrest Road. The new facility was dedicated in 1964, and the name was changed to Hillcrest Baptist. The church has been there ever since.

Hillcrest has had a number of pastors over the decades. Its longest-serving minister was Goslen, who took over in August 2001 and led the congregation until his death from cancer in October 2022.

Michael Martin served as interim pastor until the church found Flemming earlier this year.

Doris Hurst, who is known at Hillcrest as “Grandma Doris,” began attending the church in its inaugural year of 1943 when she was 9 years old.

Hurst, who is now 90, remembers bringing her boyfriend to church as a teenager. They were married at Hillcrest 72 years ago. The couple’s daughters also attended Hillcrest Baptist as have the daughters’ families.

“Over my 90 years there have been ups and downs of life, but there has always been a fine pastor and church family to point me to Bible truths of God’s faithfulness,” Hurst told Richmondside.

Hillcrest Baptist is known for not only its faith-based teachings but also its involvement with the surrounding neighborhoods.

“This church has such a history in being engaged with the community,” Flemming said.

Flemming’s road to becoming a religious leader

Flemming’s grandfather was a minister. His father also preached and helped found the Goodwill Baptist Church in Eastover, S.C., a congregation that is still active today.

Flemming is the youngest of five children and vividly remembers his family life revolving around the church and the services it provided to the community.

“I grew up in the house of a pastor,” Flemming said. “I grew up in a family where we practiced our faith. I grew up being taught to be concerned about the community. My parents had authenticity. They were down-to-earth people.”

However, Flemming’s path did not immediately go through the church.

Although he was a religious man, his first career was as a business administrator in the pharmaceutical and aerospace industries.

He was quite content with his life but decided to take some evening classes while living in New Jersey. Almost by happenstance, he started taking courses that delved into religion. He found the educational opportunity to be interesting and challenging.

“I needed to know if my faith was real,” Flemming said.

He eventually switched professions and began a second career in religious institutions that harkened back to his childhood days of being civic minded.

“I was figuring out the best way I could work with people, especially those in under-served communities,” Flemming said.

He has served as pastor at several different churches and helped found faith-based enterprises, including one in his wife Nancy McAfee-Flemming’s hometown of Oakland.

Flemming said he was enjoying his life in South Carolina early this year when officials from Hillcrest Baptist contacted him about becoming their pastor.

He said that even though the new job required him to move across the country, it was too enticing an offer to turn down.

“I kept thinking that they were sheep without a shepherd. It just wouldn’t leave my heart,” Flemming said. “I was brought up that if the church asks you to help, then you help them.”

New pastor wants Hillcrest congregation to thrive

Hillcrest Baptist has about 100 members now, down from its height of 400 several decades ago.

Flemming said there are others who watch the Sunday services online, but he wants to build back the in-person congregation.

He said that effort will start by continuing Hillcrest Baptist’s tradition of staying close to the scripture at Sunday sermons.

“I’m a biblical preacher. People want to hear about the Lord. I stick to the word,” Flemming said.

Head Deacon Jose Sabas, a longtime member of Hillcrest Baptist, agrees with that strategy.

“Hillcrest Baptist Church’s importance to the community, from my perspective, is entirely spiritual. We’re to teach people about Christ and share His gospel,” Sabas told Richmondside.

“I think our importance to the community is in how we introduce people to God and how He demonstrates that He does meet the needs of our body, mind and spirit.”

While doing that, Flemming also wants to reach out to the community.

He said his first task will be assessing the needs of the surrounding neighborhood. From there, he said he will seek out the pillars of the community and work with them.

Flemming’s wife of 20 years, Dr. Nancy McAfee-Flemming, a pediatrician and internal medicine specialist , will move from South Carolina this summer to join her husband on his latest crusade. Flemming is the father of seven children, including two children with his current wife and two adopted children.

In the end, Flemming said he wants the church to make people’s lives better.

“We believe all humans are made in the image of God and deserve our respect and love,” he said. “We want that image to thrive.”