I don't know if I can recall a recent election in which I liked both candidates. But I don't like the candidates for Dayton City Commission, I LOVE the candidates for Dayton City Commission. I'm just glad that I am no longer a resident of Montgomery County because it would be very hard to vote against either of them. In the fullness of time, hopefully both Darryl Fairchild and Daryl Ward will find their way to serve in the City commission.
Darryl Fairchild was my classmate at United Theological Seminary in Dayton (now Trotwood) in the mid-1980s. I met so many wonderful people there and diligent scholars, including John Allen, Matt Thomas, Jeff Barkley, Margaret Mallory, just to name a few. Darryl was one of the most thoughtful and studious young people at the Seminary. Many of us were working professionals studying at night. Darryl, if memory serves, was in his early 20s when he came to United. While he was there, he had an accident which left him partially paralyzed. Did that stop him? No, he went on to graduate from Seminary and is now the Children's Pastor at Children's Medical Center in Dayton. In addition, he organized the Greater Dayton Interfaith forum, and is a respected community leader and political
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| There couldn't be anyone with better character than Reverend Darryl Fairchild. |
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| Vanessa and Daryl Ward. Daryl is an Attorney, Minister, Professor, Dean and one of the greatest people I have ever met. |
Now what can I say about Reverend Daryl Ward? Reverend Ward was the Dean at United Theological Seminary when Darryl Fairchild and I were students there. Wow! What a small world. What you need to know about Reverend Ward is that he was an attorney, a graduate of Georgetown University law school, but then gave up a life as a successful lawyer to attend to Seminary and enter the ministry via Colgate Rochester Divinity School. At United, he was enormously effective at increasing enrollment and initiated a mind blowing African American Studies program. I don't know how to describe it, other than to say that was one of the greatest privileges of my life to be part of that program.
But here's where it gets crazy. While at the Seminary, he started a part-time ministry at Omega Baptist Church, meeting initially at Roth Middle School. The church grew at a phenomenal rate, and moved to a Jewish Synagogue in West Dayton. The day they moved in to the new building, they were able to pay off the mortgage, if you can believe that. They are now 4000 strong. The best thing I can say about Reverend Ward is that he really does what other people talk about, and for that reason I regard him as one of the greatest people I have ever met. Namely, he has always been about building the community via education and jobs training. Really he is not very good at complaining, but he is good at inspiring young people to apply themselves in school and achieve high goals and in the process, obtain the jobs they want to have. He's really about getting people from different backgrounds to work together and build a community. My guess is that he would be the type of community leader that would gain the confidence of the business leaders, rather than chase them away. Among many other duties, Reverend Ward is on the Board of Directors of the University of Dayton.
I should also mention that another of my classmates was Vanessa Ward, who happened to be the wife of the Dean. She is also an absolutely wonderful person, also very accomplished.
Who to vote for? That's a tough call, but since I don't live in Montgomery County I'm going to stay officially neutral, however I hope that ultimately both of the two Reverends will find their way to serve together.
But here's where it gets crazy. While at the Seminary, he started a part-time ministry at Omega Baptist Church, meeting initially at Roth Middle School. The church grew at a phenomenal rate, and moved to a Jewish Synagogue in West Dayton. The day they moved in to the new building, they were able to pay off the mortgage, if you can believe that. They are now 4000 strong. The best thing I can say about Reverend Ward is that he really does what other people talk about, and for that reason I regard him as one of the greatest people I have ever met. Namely, he has always been about building the community via education and jobs training. Really he is not very good at complaining, but he is good at inspiring young people to apply themselves in school and achieve high goals and in the process, obtain the jobs they want to have. He's really about getting people from different backgrounds to work together and build a community. My guess is that he would be the type of community leader that would gain the confidence of the business leaders, rather than chase them away. Among many other duties, Reverend Ward is on the Board of Directors of the University of Dayton.
I should also mention that another of my classmates was Vanessa Ward, who happened to be the wife of the Dean. She is also an absolutely wonderful person, also very accomplished.
Who to vote for? That's a tough call, but since I don't live in Montgomery County I'm going to stay officially neutral, however I hope that ultimately both of the two Reverends will find their way to serve together.
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