Dr. Paul Hubbard, Jr. Celebrates 92nd Birthday
Dr. Paul Hubbard recently celebrated his 92nd birthday. The Pastor of Southeast Church of Christ at 1915 Nelson SE, he is believed to be the oldest active pastor in Grand Rapids.
The family hosted a celebration at his home on June 5, 2019, open house style, from 9am until 6pm.
Family, community members and church members showered him with a lot of cards and presents.
During the interview with The Grand Rapids Times, Dr. Hubbard reflected on his ministry and community service and highlighted very candidly some of his strategies for managing his encounters with racism in this city.
Hubbard is a native of Forney, Texas. He was baptized in 1951 and began preaching at the age of fourteen. He attended the public schools of Forney and Dallas for twelve years and graduated from high school in 1945.
After graduating from Bishop College, he enrolled in Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, Texas and received his Theology Degree in 1952.
Dr. Hubbard has served at several churches, including Kingsville, Texas for three years; North Teneha Church of Christ, Tyler, Texas for six years; Collegiate Heights Church of Christ in Dayton, Ohio, for three years, and North Central Church of Christ in Flint, Michigan, five years.
He is married to the former Lena Mae Curtis of Gonzales, Texas, who is a retired schoolteacher from the Grand Rapids Public Schools. The couple had five children: Lawrence, Paul II, Adrienne, Cynthia, and Deborah.
Dr. Hubbard served on the Board of Education in Tyler, Texas; the Michigan Housing Board of Appeals; the former board of Old Kent Bank; and on the board for Southwestern Christian College in Terrell, Texas.
He has received many accolades, including an honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree in June 1976 from Tennessee Baptist School of Religion and has conducted gospel meetings in thirty - seven states and two foreign countries.
He has also written articles for the Grand Rapids Times and appeared in "Preachers Today" by the Gospel Advocate.
Although preaching is all Dr. Hubbard says he ever wanted to do, his second chosen occupation would have been in finance.
"I feel that I would have been in finance," he said. "I deal with finances a lot even today. I was at Old Kent Bank everyday except for Sunday, because I had stock in that bank."
Dr. Hubbard had the unique distinction of being the only Black Loan Officer for Tyler Bank and Trust.
"When I came to Grand Rapids, people told me that banks like Old Kent Bank (now Chase Bank) did not lend money to Blacks. I didn't believe it until I went to the bank and investigated on my own," said Dr. Hubbard.
"After they called Tyler Bank and Trust in Texas and verified that I had worked as a loan officer for them, Old Kent Bank told me that they had no problem lending me money. I made the first loan for the church that Old Kent Bank had ever granted to a Black person."
How did he end up staying in Grand Rapids?
"I am on the board of one of the colleges in Texas and the church was having some problems, so they sent me here to Grand Rapids to solve them. Although he came to the city during the riots in the 60's, and has seen the city during some turbulent times, he says that, overall, he has been treated well by Whites.
"Although Texas has the reputation of being very racist, my experiences with White people have been good," he said. "I have seen more segregation in Grand Rapids then I have ever seen in my life," he said. "I have seen more prejudice here in Grand Rapids than I ever saw in Texas and this city still is prejudiced even today and I can't understand why. I never would have thought that Grand Rapids would have gone along with Trump."
He continued, "My dad taught me that the best way to handle a White man is with another White man, because White people don't generally go against one another," he said. "For the church to operate at our desired location, the church had to go before the city commissioners. at City Hall. I asked Mr. Bob Sullivan if he could speak for us and he told me that he would be there. When we got there he was sitting in the front and after the motion was passed he left. I knew that I couldn't get it done without his help."
Dr. Hubbard says that he is thankful for being blessed to reach the age of 92 and says that he feels best when he is in the pulpit preaching.
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