February 25, 2015
The
Portland Observer Black
History Month
Page 5
Praying for a Miracle
continued
from front
Behind all these programs, Hardy
has been tirelessly working, nurtur-
ing and building leaders. He spends
300 nights a year away from his
home.
“You have had a very positive,
profound impact upon our commu-
nity and city,” says Bishop A. A.
Wells of the Vancouver Full Gospel
Church, in a message to Hardy. “You
have greatly influenced our city,
socially, politically and spiritually
with your insightful, stately and
courageous leadership.”
Gordly cites the pastor’s influ-
ence on mental health services to
the African American community.
“The Pastor has worked to remove
the stigma of mental illness and edu-
cated our people on mental health.
There would not be an OHSU/Avel
Gordly Center for Healing without
Pastor Hardy’s groundbreaking work
that focused on the need for cultur-
ally specific services… and he did
that work for well over a decade as the
chair of the African American Mental
Health Commission.”
In addition to building programs
that affect the African American com-
munity, Pastor Hardy has insisted on
a church that is inclusive and diverse.
As Gordly puts it, “It’s been said that
Sunday morning is the most segre-
gated time in America. But not at
Highland.”
Hardy explains, “In the 1990s, High-
land was in a predominately African
American community, so most of the
people who started coming were in
that community, who found thirst-
quenching ministry. And as we
moved east we continued to attract
people who realized that this water is
good for all; and continued to move
toward our goal of being a diverse
church that preaches the Gospel, a
Gospel to all men and women of every
lifestyle. My dream has never been to
be a pastor over a black church but to
be a black pastor over a church.”
Highland will celebrate Hardy’s
achievements leading the church
with special intensity during its
annual Pastor Appreciation Week-
end, March 6-8. Themed “Exceed-
ing Expectations: The Battle is Not
Yours,” the celebration will kick off
with the Youth Gala: Honoring Pas-
tor Hardy on Friday, March 6 at 7
p.m. On Sunday, March 8, two ser-
vices will be held, the Highland’s
regular service at 10 a.m. and the
19th annual Good Shepherd’s Day
Celebration at 3:30 p.m. Both ser-
vices will feature guest preacher Dr.
Kerwin B. Lee, senior pastor and
founder of the Berean Christian
Church in Stone Mountain, Geor-
gia.
Despite his illness, Hardy remains ‘He has a gift, a way of being authentic and transparent about his own life and experiences, and
optimistic about the future of High- using language in a way that everyone can hear it,’ Portland activist and former State Sen. Avel
Gordly (left) says about her pastor, Dr. W.G. Hardy Jr. (right) of the Highland Christian Center.
land.
“Number one, I see the leaders
I’ve been pouring into over the 19
years beginning to step up and re-
ally exercise their gifts in order to
share the load that the pastor has
had to carry. I see the youth really
becoming activated in their roles as
youth Christian leaders. I see sup-
port staff giving more than 110 per-
cent. And the beautiful part of it is,
during my five weeks off, I got a
chance to see that if God called me
home, Highland would be in good
shape,” Hardy says.
But no one at Highland expects
God to call the pastor home. No one
expects anything less than a miracle.
Says one Highland member, “We
love our pastor, and we hope and
pray that at this time next year we’ll be
celebrating 20 years of ministry with
our pastor right here in his accus-
tomed place.”
“Love is an action word,” says
Hardy, “And for all who say they love
me, I would love to see their shining
faces on March the 8th so together
we can thank God for what has oc-
curred over these past 19 years.”
Hardy’s medical procedures have
been very expensive. You may do-
nate to the Pastor Hardy Medical
Fund by calling Highland Christian
Center at 503-287-9567, or by send-
ing a check or money order to High-
land Christian Center, 7600 N.E.
Glisan St., Portland OR 97213. Mark
your donation clearly: “Pastor Hardy
Medical Fund.”
Pastor W.G. Hardy Jr. drew people in with his dynamic, crackling,
and athletic preachings, sometimes even known for doing the
splits and stage dives off the Highland church podium. Now
facing cancer and a terminal illness, he looks to the new genera-
tion of leaders he has mentored to lead the church to an even
brighter future.