Tribute to Pastor Freedom

Every once in a while in this journey through life you bump into kindred spirits. You cross paths with people who you just know God put into your path to encourage you along the way. Pastor Freedom was one of those people for me.

When I first started serving and living in Homewood, I longed for personal mentors and friends who could help me to process through all of the ups and downs that I was experiencing in urban ministry.

My first mentors were people like Ray Bakke and John Perkins who live outside of Pittsburgh. These leaders dreamed big dreams about Christians leading the way to transforming cities. They talked about racial reconciliation, theology, prophetic vision, urban activism, and empowerment of the poor and marginalized people in our world.

As nice as it was to read books and to study under such amazing leaders, I longed to have a friend and a mentor who could walk this journey of urban ministry with me right here in Pittsburgh. I prayed about that a lot. And, then, about six or seven years ago I kept bumping into this larger than life character named Eugene Blackwell. I would see Freedom at the YMCA in Homewood where he would be tirelessly working to empower the young people. He knew all of the kids that I knew. Who was this guy? People were drawn to him, especially young people. I would see him at Pittsburgh Faison school where we had the mentoring program. I would see him out in the streets talking to people, feeding people, preaching to people, discipling people, and doing just about anything that was needed.

Freedom had a gift with kids. Speaking of kids, Freedom wasn’t just a benefit to the kids of Homewood in general. He also loved being a dad.

To Freedom’s children, thank you so much for sharing your dad with so many people.  

Alexis and Jessyca – Freedom’s adult daughters… although I didn’t know you well, I know that Freedom loved you so much. You meant the world to him.

Canaan – Freedom loved your entrepreneurial spirit, and your maturity to do many things that other people your age might not be willing to do.

Elisha – Freedom loved your sensitive spirit and your sermons that God would give you.

Elizabeth – Freedom loved to talk about your many talents, including your track accomplishments, and he would just light up with that big soft spot in his heart every time he would talk about you.

Freedom was a wonderful husband and father, and he was also a wonderful friend. Over the course of time, Freedom and I struck up a friendship and we realized that we had both been mentored in urban ministry by Ray Bakke and John Perkins. We both had a huge passion for transformation in Pittsburgh. I asked Freedom to teach me everything he knew about ministry in Homewood. When North Way asked me to plant a church in East Liberty as a campus pastor, I asked Freedom to partner with me in leading a diverse church in a diverse neighborhood. Oh, and would he be willing to preach? In Wexford? A lot. I’m so glad that he said yes. There are thousands of people in this city who are glad that he said yes.

Freedom was kind of a big kid at heart. When he did something, he was all in. And he had a wonderful sense of humor.

During the first summer that Freedom and I teamed up to participate in Kidz Gig, North Way’s VBS, we were talking one day and he told me that he would be willing to take a pie in the face in order to make the week more fun for the kids. Sure enough, at the end of the week he was true to his promise. He went right out into the middle of the big stage and he let a kid smash a pie in his face. But, he didn’t just let that happen. He sold out to it. He flipped his chair backwards and landed on his back with his feet up in the air. Everyone thought it was the greatest thing. I can still picture him there with pie all over his face and his arms and legs up in the air.  

As I said, when Freedom did something, he was all in. Freedom lived and breathed discipleship. Over these past couple of years when he was sick, he happened to play a part in one of his good friends coming to Christ. In order to disciple his friend, they committed to calling each other at 4am every morning to read the scriptures, to fast, to pray, and to talk about life. Freedom took discipleship to a new level with that 4am thing. Thankfully, God hasn’t called me to that, yet.

Freedom didn’t just talk about the poor. He was all in. He moved his family into Homewood. He started a ministry for everyday people. He relentlessly advocated for people. On at least one occasion, he took his advocacy with a young man who was going through the court system so far that he was actually arrested and spent the night in jail. He was not embarrassed by being unjustly arrested. It was a privilege for him to take his advocacy with people from Homewood so far. His courage earned him tremendous respect throughout the community. That incident happened early in Freedom’s time on staff at North Way. When Freedom told me that he was in jail and what had happened, I remember thinking to myself… how am I going to tell my boss, Scott Stevens, about this one? Of course, Scott understood and was 100% supportive of Freedom. In Scott’s simple but powerful way of leadership, he simply said, “Just let me know what you need.”

To Scott, Jay, Randy, the staff at North Way, all of the North Way members from different campuses. and the elders in leadership in this church, especially the elder council members and Fred, Doug, Reggie, Chad, Matt, and Jon from East End, I want to publicly thank you for welcoming Freedom whole heartedly into our church family at North Way. Not just into pastoral leadership and into the pulpit at North Way, but truly welcoming him into your hearts.

And the acceptance didn’t just come from North Way. Free, kids, Debra, Freedom’s mom, extended family members like Jacquelyn, and friends like Sherman Leeper were people connected to Freedom who whole heartedly embraced me and the entire North Way family as their church home. For that, I am eternally grateful. Thank you.

Friends and family members, will you join me in carrying Freedom’s big dreams and vision for Homewood and for our city forward? Yes, we need to take the time to grieve the loss of our friend, our pastor, our teacher, and our leader. But, let’s rise up together as God’s church to transform this city. Let’s rise up together to lead the people of our city to become reconciled to God and reconciled to each other across all racial and socioeconomic barriers that might divide us. Let’s rise up and lock arms together to work toward empowering the poor and marginalized residents of our city and our world. Let’s demonstrate the radical love of Christ to one another just like Freedom demonstrated that radical love with the people that he encountered every day, whether it’s on the street corners of Homewood or in the street corner next to a waterfall in Wexford.

 I’ll close with one passage of scripture that greatly inspired both me and Freedom is Isaiah 58:

10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. 11 And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. 12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in. – Isaiah 58:10-12 ESV

Goodbye, Freedom. You truly were a repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.