Leaders of Southlake’s first Black church fondly recall welcome, express concern for city

When Ron McClellan built his home in mostly rural Southlake over 30 years ago to be near DFW Airport for his wife’s business travel, there were no nearby grocery stores or restaurants, let alone a church to serve the African-American community.

But that would soon change when McClellan invited his pastor from his church in Grand Prairie for Sunday dinner shortly after his youngest son was christened.

“I remember my pastor asking me, How did you find this place?” McClellan recalled.

Denny Davis, who is senior pastor, was leading a growing congregation at St. John Church Unleashed, and he wanted to expand the church’s outreach into Northeast Tarrant County.

At the time, McClellan, 67, was a revenue agent for the IRS, and his wife Kiamesha was a regional director of dentistry for Cigna Health. Now she has her dental practice in Flower Mound, and McLellan has an accounting practice in Carrollton.

The new congregation in Northeast Tarrant County first met in a hotel in Grapevine, but people weren’t coming to worship, recalled McClellan, a deacon at St. John Church Unleashed.

“I said to my pastor, ‘Brother, are you sure we can find a place to build a church out here?’ He told me that we just have to be committed,” McClellan said.

‘Welcoming atmosphere’

Davis, 60, who is celebrating his 46th year of preaching, described the “welcoming atmosphere” during a city council meeting 23 years ago, when former mayor Rick Stacy announced that St. John would be the first African-American church in Southlake. The council voted unanimously in favor of the church coming to Southlake, Davis recalled.

“That was a history-making moment for our church,” Davis said.

He described how city leaders helped his church lease converted warehouse space and then helped the growing congregation find property at 800 S. Kimball Ave., where there was only vacant land because the road wasn’t built at the time.

The church hired an architect and raised the money to build a sanctuary that seats 2,400, a family life center, a bookstore and classrooms.

As the church grew, so did Southlake. More high-end homes, restaurants and shopping took shape, and the two-lane FM 1709 stretching through far north Fort Worth and Keller grew to the six-lane Southlake Boulevard.

For the McClellans and other families, it was important to have an African-American church so their children could identify with their culture and have a sense of belonging.

“There weren’t many of us out here,” McClellan said. Just eight-tenths of one percent of the city’s 31,105 residents are Black, according to the U.S. Census.

“There was never that I’m better than you attitude because we knew where we came from,” he said. “Our children needed that. No one was standoffish at all.”

Friday night fellowships led to lasting friendships, which included former Dallas Cowboys such as Tony Tolbert and the late Frank Cornish.

Church speaks out

The church welcomes community groups, youth sports teams and exercise groups to use the gym and other facilities for free, Davis said.

However, being a “good neighbor” also means speaking up for the marginalized and standing against discrimination, he said.

Davis said he is concerned that the Carroll school district, known for its high academic standards and strong athletic programs, is facing eight investigations from the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights over allegations of retaliation and discrimination including race, sex and disability.

The Carroll school district issued statements previously that it is cooperating with the investigations.

Davis also questioned last month’s 5-1 vote to leave the Texas Association of School Boards, which provides services such as risk management and legal guidance to school districts. Carroll board members said the association promotes policies favoring diversity and that the district can save tax dollars by finding cheaper services on the open market. They also said the association doesn’t align with values of most Texans.

But Davis said he is worried about a diminishing emphasis on diversity and how that affects students and their education on living in a world where people have different opinions and beliefs.

Davis said the nationwide push to remove books from libraries on race and gender erases Black history.

“African American history is actually American history. How do you use a black highlighter to eliminate much of the American story?” he said.

Earlier this year, he also questioned the school board on why the district removed some of the protections in the anti-discrimination clause of the revised Student Code of Conduct that involved religion, race and sexual orientation.

School officials said that the protections are included in the district’s legal policies and that Carroll is following guidelines from the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights.

“We ought to go out and do what needs to be done to protect everybody,” Davis said. “It matters not who someone loves or who someone sleeps with or how one identifies, they are part of the human race.”

Davis said he is “giving prayerful consideration” to speaking at future school board meetings.

“We are not just raising a fuss; we are good community partners ...” he said. “We are not just critiquing, we are contributing.”

McClellan said he is not surprised about reports of discrimination in the Carroll schools.

“I’m not surprised because of what I’ve experienced,” he said.

McClellan described childhood memories of sitting in the back of the movie theater where there was a separate popcorn machine for Black people and seeing a sign on the laundromat that read “whites only.”

Davis, who began preaching at age 14 while growing up in Illinois, came to Texas, where he graduated from Bishop College in Marshall with a bachelor’s degree in religion and a minor in business administration. He also received a master’s degree in theology from Brite Divinity School at TCU and studied at Baylor and Oxford universities.

In 1991, he became pastor at St. John Church Unleashed in Grand Prairie and soon realized the church needed a second location in Northeast Tarrant County. The Southlake location attracts worshipers from Keller, Colleyville and the HEB corridor. Some even come from as far as Prosper, he said.

But he emphasized that the church has its roots in Southlake.

Davis described St. John as a fundamentally Baptist church, but the congregation decided to change the name to St. John Church Unleashed to reflect the philosophy of thinking outside of the box, Davis said.

Davis said he works with around 30 churches throughout the country that believe that they shouldn’t be “locked into traditional norms and beliefs.”

Davis said churches should “venture out and become what God is calling us to be in the light of Christian faith.”

Davis said he will continue to preach and speak out.

“We are going to fight for what’s right. We are invested in this community, and we are going to stay here to help this city become what it can become,” he said.