News and Views

By Erik Alsgaard
UMConnection Staff

“How you doin’, Pastorman?”

The Rev. Rodney Hudson is walking the streets in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Baltimore. A man waiting for a bus recognizes the pastor as he walks by. Hudson is wearing gym shorts, a white t-shirt, and flip-flops.

As he walks, drug dealers openly sell their deadly products on the street. A glassy eyed man with a thousand-yard stare wanders aimlessly down a sidewalk, almost stepping into the path of an oncoming car. Children clamor for attention from parents more interested in their smartphones.

But people recognize Hudson, pastor at Ames UMC in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood in northwest Baltimore. Site of the Freddie Gray riots four years ago, this area witnesses drug overdoses and shootings on an almost daily basis.

Yes, the CVS store is back in business after being burned down. Yes, the burned-out cars have been removed and the streets cleaned. But Baltimore remains in the nation’s conscience.

That was evident last month when President Trump used social media to bash its Congressman, Elijah Cummings, one of his fiercest critics.

“What President Trump said (about Baltimore) was highly offensive, hateful and derogatory,” Hudson said as he walked. “But for African Americans in this community, there’s been no change. There was no change under President Clinton, no change under President Obama, and no change under President Trump.”

Some of what the president said, Hudson said, “is absolutely true.”

For example?

“Look around you,” Hudson said, pointing at boarded-up homes, trash-littered sidewalks and alleys, and dirt and grime seemingly in endless supply. “What help is coming to poor people? We know middle-class people really took a big hit under Trump, but poor people’s lives have always been this way.”

Hudson has served at Ames UMC for 11 years. He recently moved into the neighborhood, into a row house just around the corner from the church. Drug deals happen right on his street. A woman living in an abandoned house across the street died from a drug overdose just days earlier.

“Billions of dollars are spent,” Hudson said, “where is it for us? Not much of it is here. Look around. This is zombie land. What President Trump said was highly offensive, but some of it is true. This place is rat infested.”

Maybe the only good thing to come of this unwanted attention, Hudson said, is that it has again brought the attention of the world to the plight of Baltimore. He’s been receiving calls and messages from “all over,” he said, with people asking how they can help. “What he (Trump) said was bad, but he has re-shifted the world’s focus back on Baltimore.”

Hudson said that building and maintaining relationships is key to effective ministry in the neighborhood.

“In this area,” Hudson said, “if you’re going to make an impact, you gotta be on the ground because the people aren’t going to come to you based upon if you drive a nice car and you’re a pastor.”

Hudson is grateful for the support from the Baltimore-Washington Conference that helps pay his salary and benefits. The conference is also supplying a $400,000 grant so that Ames UMC can buy the vacant lot across the street from the church and build a community center-type building. That building will include a day care, boxing studio, and more. Hudson said they hope to close on the deal in mid-August. “They have invested into Baltimore and into Sandtown,” he said.

Relationships also extend to drug dealers in the neighborhood. Hudson said that after thieves broke in and stole all the sound equipment in the church, it was Glen Mar UMC who bought new microphones, but the drug dealers tracked down the people who stole the speakers and got them back. The drug dealers have also provided money to help pay the church’s BGE bill, and to help send kids to ROCK.

“I know it’s dirty money,” Hudson said, “but I don’t judge them.”

As he walks, Hudson invites people to come to the church for it’s twice-weekly free food give away. Every Tuesday and Thursday, the church, working with partners, gives away hundreds of dollars-worth of food. On this Thursday evening, dozens of people lined up for basic food items including frozen chicken breasts, bread, and non-perishables. Monday through Friday, the church provides breakfast and lunch.

Last year, Hudson kept a running total of homicides in the city on his Facebook page. He stopped doing it this year, he said, because keeping track of the deaths became too depressing. “I’m keeping track of who’s alive, so we can make an impact on that.”

Hudson said that he finds hope in his ministry in many places.

“I see hope in people I first met as kids who have now graduated from high school and are going to college,” he said. “Trying to make it out of here. I see hope in the way that the church has been able to impact their lives.”

He mentions Tammy, a woman who had seven small stepchildren who were on their way to becoming another statistic. “She turned her life around and is now serving as the chair of the church council. All of her children have graduated from high school, except two who are going to graduate. All of her children are in college or going to college. So, the hope is the impact that you make for the future generations.”

As Hudson completes his walk, after greeting dozens of people and inviting them to pick up some food, it’s obvious that he not only loves serving in Baltimore, but he loves the people, too.

“I love the community, I love the people, and I love my church,” he said. “I love the Baltimore-Washington Conference because they gave me a chance. They’ve invested in this community, along with several partner churches. They deserve to see a return on their investment. That’s my goal.”