Out to Lunch: Bishop Richard Howell leads north Minneapolis with forgiveness and love

On Minnesota Now, we hear from many different people in Minnesota over the phone and in the studio. But we don’t often meet them in the community, where news — and life — happens. In our “Out to Lunch” series, MPR News host Nina Moini sits down for a meal with people from Minnesota news and culture to get to know them better.

Our lunch guest: Bishop Richard Howell

The restaurant: Good Day Café in Golden Valley

The following has been edited for length and clarity. Use the audio player above for the full conversation.

Your family has a long history in Minneapolis. You were the first Black child to integrate Northeast Junior High School.

In the 1960s the Civil Rights Movement was going strong. But up here in Minnesota, we were ignorant and behind the times when it came to understanding integration and civil rights. So when I went to Northeast Junior High School, I was scared. I was in seventh grade. A lot of people at my school in Northeast had never seen an African American before.

It was a cultural shock for myself, and so it took a long time for us to get adapted and adjust to a new school system.

Kids would ask me if I was the son of Early Battey. Earl Battey played for the Minnesota Twins. He was the African American catcher, and he was very popular. The Twins went to the World Series playing the L.A. Dodgers around that time. So when they asked me if I was Earl’s son, I said yeah. And it worked! I was like a celebrity. I didn’t give it up for a long time.

What led you to ministry?

My mother’s parents were pastors of Shiloh Temple. They founded Shiloh Temple in 1931. So that’s the church I grew up in, and it’s the church I still pastor today.

When they learned that I was the first Black person that integrated Northeast Junior High School, the Minneapolis Star Tribune interviewed me. In that article I said I wanted to be a bible teacher. That was my first time announcing that.

After that announcement was made as a 14 year old kid, there was something moving in my spirit. It wasn't really about civil rights. It was like something was going on spiritually that was impacting my conscience and my destiny.

Give me more of an idea of what Shiloh Temple does. You’re not just showing up there on Sunday mornings.

There’s a lot going on in the community. I believe that the church should be open 24/7. And I think the best products we have to give to the community are love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance.

We’ve had to deal with funerals galore. We have people that came from around the country, high profile people, who came for funerals. We’ve dealt with little children being molested, bullets flying through windows and killing children.

We’ve had funerals after very traumatic events. The ability to open the doors, to hold something like that, is a lot of work. That’s ministry. It’s not a performance or a national broadcast. It’s dealing with life and nature.

How are you processing five years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and George Floyd's murder?

That was one of the most unusual seasons that I’ve ever experienced in ministry. I think ministers need to stop being superhuman and tell people that I cry too. I hurt, I’m angry. It’s okay not to be okay sometimes, right?

During that period, I had to say something that was not easy to say. I had to say that the person that put his knee on the neck of George Floyd, we need to pray for him too and love him, and perhaps forgive him. That was not easy. I couldn’t believe I said it. Yes, we had a Black man that was killed. But do we go around hating? Or can we try to try to find some justice of love?

There is a lot of hurt, hate and anger there. But we just can’t keep living in a attitude of hate and divisiveness. And so can we have hope in a world of hate? Can we have love in the midst of hate? So I think that’s what we need to understand, the power of bringing hope, faith and love to a very painful situation.

Time for our Last Bite: What are the ingredients to a life of service?

You gotta love people. Here’s what I’ve learned: celebrate people on every journey they’re on. There are so many people on edge, and what better service can we give than to sit where they sit, work with them, cry with them, speak with them, laugh with them, rejoice with them and give them hope? That’s God’s will. If you can do that, you’ve got a foot in the door.