Arlington’s N.L. Robinson grew Mount Olive church, fulfilled dream as a pastor

When World War II veteran N.L. Robinson arrived as the new pastor of Arlington’s Mount Olive Baptist Church in 1966, he was welcomed by the 17 members who regularly attended services there.

It would have been logical to see the little church that was founded in 1897 as approaching its final days.

Pastor Robinson, however, wasn’t constrained by logic.

He identified himself then and for the next 50 years: “I’m a preacher with a dream.”

Pursuing that dream meant he would be driven by unshakable faith that if he depended on God to guide his shepherding of the small flock, it would grow larger.

Soon the membership increased to the point that the diminutive white structure that housed them was no longer adequate. A new sanctuary would be required.

So, they moved a short distance along East Street and built a larger one.

It wouldn’t be long before it, too, would be outgrown.

The beautiful edifice that today provides a place where more than 12,000 members are enrolled opened in 1989.

It was just a few years before that occasion that I first met Pastor Robinson.

Fellow City Council member Ken Groves, one of the very few white people who were members at Mount Olive, set up an appointment for us to get acquainted.

To prepare for the meeting, I brushed up on issues I thought would be of interest to the city’s relatively small black population.

I wanted to be ready to address the concerns I expected Pastor Robinson to share.

I was warmly greeted by Pastor Robinson and members of his staff.

After we exchanged a few niceties, he cut to the chase and told me what he would like to see from my service to the community.

He said he had checked up on me and believed I could be a good mayor. “If you let the Lord lead you, I’m sure you will know what the right thing is for you to do.”

I responded that I would seek such guidance and waited for him to address some specifics.

But that simple admonition was the entirety of his counsel.

When I shared the experience with my wife, it became clear to us that such advice, if followed, would result in serving the interests of all the people of Arlington.

The church’s minister of education, current Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Michael Glaspie, recently observed, “His (Robinson) focus was on the church and doing the Lord’s will vs bringing attention to himself.”

In that spirit, Glaspie earlier this year brought pastors of other churches together with community leaders and Mount Olive members to a three-hour gathering to champion the new kindness initiative underway in the city.

The theme was doing the right thing.

As I sat in that service, I recalled that first meeting with the man that First Baptist Senior Pastor Dennis Wiles identified as “the bishop of Arlington.”

Such is a fitting tribute to the iconic preacher who at the age of 96 has moved into heaven — a destination he promised all others, “If you want to go to heaven, come to Mount Olive and we’ll get you there.”

He’s being warmly received by those who took him up on that promise and preceded him.

Now he’ll eagerly greet those who will follow.

Former Mayor Elzie Odom, the city’s first black mayor and a Mount Olive leader, will tell you that much of the harmony in a community of growing diversity can be traced to Pastor Robinson’s influence and leadership.

As for those who were privileged to know him, we will mark time from that fateful day in 1966 when he arrived here and embraced that congregation of 17 souls with a dream now fulfilled and overflowing.

This story was originally published May 5, 2017 at 8:03 PM with the headline "Arlington’s N.L. Robinson grew Mount Olive church, fulfilled dream as a pastor."