Rev. Jasper Williams, Jr.

Rev. Jasper Williams Jr. talked with Gospelcity about his latest comeback CD Landmark, and his intriguing life as a pastor for 47 years at Salem Bible Church in Atlanta, Georgia.

Gospelcity: Rev. Williams, why did you decide now to release a CD after 20 years since your last recording?

Rev. Jasper Williams, Jr.:  The reason I did the CD is because of Kelvin Manson who is my Minister of Music at my church (Salem Bible Church).  Kevin is about 34 or 35 years old and I’ve been pasturing for 47 years… so Kelvin was raised under my ministry and did everything he needed to do for the position that was required to become our ministry of music.  Kelvin came to me and kept saying to me that I needed to record again.  I heard him one time but then I began to listen to him. I made a decision to do it and that’s how it came about.

Gospelcity:  Tell us about the background of your Landmark CD project?

Rev. Williams:  Kevin Manson is the producer in essence of the whole thing. He pulled it all together in terms of the songs, reached out to the songwriters for us and when I say for us I’m referencing myself and my son(Dr. Joseph L. Williams)  … because my son does several numbers on the CD along with myself … and we do a couple of  numbers as a duet.  The reason for the title Landmark for the CD came about because of the fact that I’ve been in the ministry for 60 years … and the group thought that I am a landmark … and for that reason we named the CD Landmark.

Gospelcity:  What message do you want listeners to take away from your Landmark project?

Rev. Williams:   I’ve been sustained by God … and I’m 67 years of age … and it’s not many people that can say they have done anything for 60 years … and still have a reasonable portion of health and strength. God has privileged me to have that … and so if they see nothing but me being sustained through 67 years of life … 60 years of preaching … and 47 years of pastoring the same people… that within itself to me … says all that God has done for me.

Gospelcity:  What would you like people to know about your musical background who aren’t familiar with your music ministry?

Rev. Williams:  Well, my musical background started with Dottie Peoples.  She was a member of my church … and she came in to my church as a great choir singer … and she rose to be the musical director of my church at one time.  It’s because of her (Dottie Peoples) that I did the previous two albums … and many people don’t know Dottie Peoples ran Church Door Records on a day to day basis for us … for many years.  I’m the one that introduced her to A.I. R. (Atlanta International Records) and the rest is history.  So my musical background should be attributed to Dottie Peoples because she always thought I should be out there for whatever her reason … I have to thank her for that.

Gospelcity:  Who have been some of your musical influences over the years?

Rev. Williams:  Rev. James Cleveland was one of my musical heroes.  He used to sing all of the time at Rev. Franklin’s house (who is Aretha Franklin’s father).  A group of us would gather at the Franklin’s house and they would sing all the time when he (Rev. Cleveland) was very young.  There was camaraderie there. Dr. E. L. McKenny of Memphis, Tennessee who used to sing with the Southern Wonders had the greatest influence on me along as my father, Rev. Jasper Williams Sr.  My father (Rev. Williams, Sr.) was the one who allowed me the privilege to preach at such a early age and took a lot of flack and a lot of ridicule because I was just a child 6…7 years of age but he believed in me being called to preach … and I have him (Rev. Williams, Sr.) to start with … as the basis from whence all of it (musical influence) comes from.

Gospelcity:  What are your thoughts about the Gospel Music Industry today, since you’re back promoting a new CD after 20 years?

Rev. Williams:  I have been around long enough to see the pendulum of the gospel world shift from one angle to another. I remember the days when we had Roberta Thorpe … and the Clara Ward Singers … and the Caravans. I’ve seen this new version come along with the praise and worship feel … and I’m really wondering what’s happening in the gospel world today… because it seems to have a collaboration of directions that it’s moving in … no specific or particular way … and that sort of inspires me to just give what I have … and I have what is innate within me … and I want to share it with the world… and I’m just privileged to have the opportunity to do so.

Gospelcity:  I’ve personally enjoyed listening to a pre-released copy of your project.  I liked the Sunday morning atmosphere captured on the CD. Is this the type of joyful praise and worship people can expect when they visit your church?  

Rev. Williams:   Exactly… it’s collaboration of everything.  Our church (Salem Bible Church) is made up of old and new school. You have the old time approach with myself … my son(Dr. Joseph L. Williams) being a younger minister has a sort of new version contemporary style … so it’s kind of a meshing and blending of both worlds is what we try to  perpetrate each and every Sunday.

Gospelcity:  Tell us about your ministry at Salem Bible Church.

Rev. Williams:  I was called to the church at 20 years of age. It’s Salem Bible Church now but at the time I was called to the church in 1963 it was Salem Baptist Church.   The church is now 119 years old. I’ve been there for 47 of those years and my son (Dr. Joseph L. Williams) have been in ministry with me since the year 2000.  My oldest son (Rev. Jasper Williams, III) ventured off and started his own ministry in Gwinnett but my youngest son (Dr. Joseph L. Williams) is in ministry with me.  I have the captured label as Senior Pastor and my son is pastor.  We have this one ministry in two locations. The mother church is in Atlanta on the West side on 2283 Baker Road NW, Atlanta and the East side location is 5460 Hillandale Road in Lithonia which is the extreme east of Atlanta.  When they called me to the church it was a two Sunday church that operated on the 2^nd and 4^th Sunday of the month. I immediate moved the church to be an every Sunday church … when I started we had approximately 300 to 350 people who were members at that time.  Today, we have on roll approximately 12,000 to 13,000 members … and we see about 4,500 people each week with the four services we do at 8:30am and 11:00am at both locations each Sunday.

Gospelcity:  What personal principles through the years have given you staying power with your music and your preaching ministry?

Rev. Williams:  Well a successful life mostly and especially when it’s spiritual cannot be sustained without principles. And one of the principles that I think has sustained me my whole life whether musical or preaching is an old saying my Dad gave me to live by … and I live by this each and every day … and that is keep your hand in God’s hand and treat people right.   Those are the two things I’ve tried to practice each day and it has spilled over not only in my preaching life but also in my singing life that God has given me as well.

Gospelcity: In 2004, you had a conference with the theme Teaching, Preaching & Pastors in the 21th Century:  A Call! A Command! A Challenge! What were some of the insightful information shared from that conference?

Rev. Williams:  The conference was to give preachers and pastors a practical approach of how to carry out pastoring.  We said that there’s nothing better we can do in the 21th century than to arm ourselves with proper information because of the mass communication that we have with the Internet.  We are dealing with people now who know and people who are abreast … and in order for the church to continue to thrive … and survive … we who pastor the churches … and lead the people must be prepared when we stand before them in our pulpits each and every Sunday.  That was the main driving force.

Gospelcity:  What has been some of your most memorable moments in your music and preaching ministries?

Rev. Williams:  One of my most moving moments was when I was privileged to preach the eulogy of Dr. C. L. Franklin who was Aretha Franklin’s father.   Dr. Franklin was shot and stayed in a coma for five years.  He had me to preach his revival for about 3 or 4 straight years. Just before the time of the revival for that year … it was when he (Dr. Franklin) was shot … and I went there and did the revival … and he was in the coma and stayed in the coma like I said for about 5 years. Aretha and the rest of the Franklin family saw how attentive I was to him (Dr. Franklin) because his ministry and legacy had spilled over into me.  So upon his death Rev. Jesse Jackson had just begun to run for President of the United States at that time and Jesse was close to the Franklin family.  They (Franklin family) called me and told me they had made the concretive decision that though Jesse was the Presidential candidate they wanted a person to preach that was more in tuned to who Dr. Franklin was as a preacher. For that reason they asked me to eulogize him and I was very honored.  That was probably one of the highest moments in my heart and mind I can relate to.

Gospelcity:  What kind of advice do you give aspiring singers and young preachers?

Rev. Williams:  One of the key things that preachers must do is to be educated.  We’ve got to educate ourselves because we are far beyond ignorance in the pulpit.  We have to be able to articulate the Gospel with the intellectualism that the people in the pew have. The pulpit must be representative of that as well.  As it relates to the singing world you’ve got to move from your heart.  The singing world is the thing I think is more innate and in tune to Spirit that anything else we can do … and when we are in tune to that Spirit in our heart it comes forth as realness … and people tend to be able to feel that which is real. 

Gospelcity:  When will your Landmark project be released and where can it be purchased?

Rev. Williams:  The project will be released July 20^th which is ironically the same week of my birthday … and we opted to release it at that time since we are celebrating my birthday during the month of July.    People can go to Amazon.com and preorder the CD.  They can go to www.jasperwilliamsjr.comand preview samples of the songs on the CD. People can contact me on Myspace.com/jasperwilliamsjr, on Twitter and add me as a friend on Facebook.   The CD is distributed by Sony and it will be available in stores and online nationwide.