Charleston native becomes pastor of historic Cape Girardeau church

Pastor Juliet Kent-Hemphill, a 1977 graduate of Charleston, Missouri, High School, has come home to Southeast Missouri to assume the pastorate of St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church, 516 North St. in Cape Girardeau, part of the AME's District 5 covering 16 U.S. states.

"I've been gone from the area for 20 years," said Kent-Hemphill, who led her first service for the 158-year-old congregation Sept. 19.

"My mother is ill, and I told our bishop I wanted to get closer to home," Kent-Hemphill said. She added her favorite biblical texts are from the New Testament -- Matthew chapter 25 and Romans chapter 8.

"My focus, first and foremost, will be on this church and its work in the community," she said.

Kent-Hemphill said she is also interested in growing St. James' membership and in unity, "whatever the church needs."

St. James' origins date to the Civil War and Kent-Hemphill said she appreciates the church's long and storied history.

"I love the history, we should celebrate it, but also focus on the present and future at the same time," Kent-Hemphill said, and added she has worked often with the homeless and in food distribution during a ministerial career spanning four states.

"While in California, I partnered with the governor on a cooling station."

During the six-year tenure of the Rev. Renita Green, Kent-Hemphill's immediate predecessor, the church launched a warming center during the bitter cold winter months.

Green became associate director of religious diversity and ecumenical ministry at the University of Dayton on July 16.

During her St. James' tenure, Green ran unsuccessfully for Missouri state representative in District 147 in 2018 and for Cape Girardeau City Council in 2020.

"I'm not very political," Kent-Hemphill said, recalling she had a "Jonah response" to what she calls her initial call to ordained ministry.

"I denied (the call) at the first but then I got sick and spent a month in Missouri Delta Hospital and then submitted to His will," she said.

Prior to ministry, Kent-Hemphill -- a widow since 2014 with two sons and five grandchildren -- was a Head Start teacher and did restorative therapy in a nursing home.

"I want to make sure (St. James) is connected with the community, but I need to get the overall picture. In the first year of a (pastoral) appointment, I watch and study before making changes," said Kent-Hemphill, who attended Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

COVID-19

St. James is worshiping in-person but is also making its services available remotely by Zoom for the sick and shut-in of the congregation.

"I appreciate the pandemic for one thing -- it forced us to be creative. When we were all on lockdown, it gave us a lot of time to think about how we were going to do church and how to reach people," she said.

Kent-Hemphill, 62, who has previously served churches in Caruthersville and Kennett, Missouri, has also been appointed to congregations in Yakima, Washington; Indio, California; and most recently, in Topeka, Kansas.