[AsburyPark] Out of the cyberspace closet?

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You happy now?   Man of God "leads on" as times change around him ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS — The trajectory of the Rev. Henry P. Davis Jr.'s life took him from his birthplace in Texas to Mississippi, Montgomery, Ala., and the battlefields of Korea before he found himself as the pastor of St. Paul's Baptist Church. Now a 33-year fixture of the unassuming, 105-year-old church, Davis is quick to emphasize to his congregation the importance of what helped him throughout his life: Education, education and more education. A college graduate at the young age of 19, Davis said he tries to instill a love of learning in every young person who walks through the doors of St. Paul's. And it's not just from the pulpit that Davis has had achance to touch the lives of others. Davis is the president of the Red Bank chapter of the NAACP, chairperson of the Monmouth County Board of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services, moderator of the Seacoast Missionary Baptist Association of New Jersey, a member of the Monmouth County Youth Services Commission and of the Monmouth County Minority Youth Vicinage Committee. If that seems like an awful lot of balls to keep in the air at once, consider that Davis once managed to work full time teaching electronics at Fort Monmouth, attend classes at New Brunswick Seminary at night, and preach at the church in Atlantic Highlands — all while raising four children. How does he do it? Davis said he always leaves it up to God, and has always found a way. Davis likes to quote Psalm 118:23: "This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes." "He is probably one of the nicest, most highly qualified individuals I have ever met," said Atlantic Highlands Borough Clerk Dwayne M. Harris. "As a man of God and a minister, he is most entertaining and educational." As the son of a public schoolteacher, Davis blossomed in the classroom. After completing a one-year tour in Korea, and living for a while in Montgomery, Davis decided to take a correspondence course on electronics. This would eventually lead him to move to Fort Monmouth in the early 1960s, where Davis taught electronics for 17 years before retiring in 1987. But there was another, more powerful calling in Davis' life. The minister said he felt drawn to the ministry in 1967, and almost wound up enrolling at the Princeton Seminary in 1968. But he decided to attend the New Brunswick Seminary at night instead, along with his son. Both graduated from the seminary on the same day. Much has changed from the days Davis spent as a youth in Texas. Even when he joined the Air Force in 1950, blacks and whites were kept separate — there was a black Noncommissioned Officers club and all-black squadrons even during the Korean War. "Dallas, for example, was extremely racist back then," Davis said. "You couldn't even shop at a Neiman Marcus at the time." But the times have certainly changed. Now, Davis' own niece is running for public office in Dallas. St. Paul's Baptist Church began from a tiny seed in 1899: A man named Vasser L. Peake came to Atlantic Highlands and started the church with a group of 13 fellow blacks. The church has always been linked to the Quinn Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, which is about 150 years old. The black community surrounding the church, however, has diminished over the years, which Davis attributes to the shifting cultural demographics of the Bayshore. "It seems that every time a black family moves out of this area, a white family moves in faster than they can put up a for-sale sign," he said. "There's just an attraction to the area." Harris, who attends Quinn Chapel A.M.E. and has worked with Davis on the Red Bank NAACP, said the shrinking black community in the area poses problems for the future of mostly black churches like St. Paul's. But both Harris and Davis are confident that area churches will continue to thrive. In fact, St. Paul's now draws members from Red Bank and Tinton Falls, Davis said. "It's just the Lord's blessing — a small group of people trying to be faithful to his word," Davis said. Though the congregation may be smaller than other churches, St. Paul's is known as a place that inspires many of its members who get involved at an early age. An example is one boy who began attending services when he was 9 years old, who has since gone on to become a pastor of Good Hope church in Asbury Park. "It's because of him as a person, how he coaches people and treats people and mentors people," Harris said. "He's the kind of type who comes up and says, "This is what we need you to do, and this is how we're going to do it,' and he leads on. He doesn't leave room for procrastination, no hemming and hawing." SPONSORED LINKS Asbury park home Asbury park nj Asbury park hotel Asbury park foreclosure Asbury park real estate Asbury park YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS  Visit your group "AsburyPark" on the web.    To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]    Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.