As a young man in his 20s, Dwayne Debnam seemed to have his life lined up. He was happily married with two children, was using his IT skills in a manager’s job at Black & Decker, and believed a long, prosperous career in the corporate world awaited.
Then he met Bishop Walter Scott Thomas Sr.
It was the preaching and teaching of Thomas, longtime senior pastor of New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore, that inspired Debnam to “reconsider what God had in mind for my life.” The more time he spent with Thomas, the more it felt as though he, too, should consider a life in ministry. Now he’s one of more than 200 people from the pastor’s orbit who lead churches of their own.
“It was a scary, nerve-wracking time, and I wasn’t sure where I was headed, but I don’t regret making the change one bit,” says Debnam, 62, now in his 30th year as senior pastor of Morning Star Baptist Church in Catonsville. “I feel blessed to have kept the cycle going.”
It’s not an uncommon story in the life of Thomas, who retired last year as the leader and driving force behind New Psalmist, one of the city’s most influential Christian congregations. His 50 years as its pastor call to mind the Gospel parable in which Jesus said faith the size of a mustard seed could move a mountain: It has been all about growth.
“He has galvanized people to want to do more,” says Victor March, the CEO of March Funeral Homes and a friend of more than 40 years. “He’s able to pull the strength out of people so that they’re able to participate with value in what they’re doing. … He was able to take a very small church in terms of membership and build [it] into something almost like a megachurch, one that is really tied into the needs of the community.”
When he took over New Psalmist in 1975, it had about 150 members. Thomas’ preaching talent, scriptural knowledge and gift for personal connection built it out so fast he had to move to bigger locations three times, most recently as part of a $50 million construction project in 2010. Its current sanctuary, complete with state-of-the-art sound and video systems, can hold half its 8,000 members at a time at its campus in Lochearn.
The married father of three attracted the rich and influential. The late U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings was a friend and longtime member. President Bill Clinton visited New Psalmist for its 100th anniversary in 1999 and hosted Thomas and associates at the White House. President Barack Obama did the same. But those who know Thomas say his influence spread one person at a time.
Longtime New Psalmist member Ed Kane has seen Thomas linger after services and speak with more than 100 people one-on-one, always remembering names and situations and “seeing people through a godlike lens — not that he’s godlike, but he teaches, preaches and believes that God sees us all in a way that perhaps understands our foibles and sees all our potential and specialness.”
But Thomas brought other dimensions to his leadership. A math and science whiz from boyhood, he majored in economics at the University of Maryland and began his adult life as a manager for a regional phone company. But the more he interacted with clients, the more he came to sense they had needs beyond their worldly concerns.
“They needed a discovery bigger than the ones they were making,” Thomas said. “I started questioning whether the course I was on would help them find that. The answer came back a resounding ‘no’ — you’ll have to do something else to help them see who they can be.”
He volunteered with a legendary local preacher, the Rev. Dr. Harold Carter Sr. of New Shiloh Baptist Church, got two advanced degrees in religion and changed directions.
Half a century later, Thomas says, he understands that God was always preparing him for his calling. It took economic skills to provide for New Psalmist’s finances, management skills to plan for its growth, negotiating skills to get buildings built, and his gift in communicating scriptural ideas to become a sought-after speaker on leadership and spirituality as far away as Japan, South Africa and England.
“It’s rare to find a leader in any field with that combination of talents, and he’s always learning and studying something new,” says Odell Dickerson, New Psalmist’s chief operations officer. “He’s a genius. He’s the smartest person I’ve ever met in my life.”
The New Psalmist Thomas leaves behind is still growing. The biblical counseling ministry he founded more than 40 years ago is oversubscribed. Its four choir groups keep Sunday services lively, its Sunday morning TV show, “Empowering Disciples,” is still aired nationally, its programs to stem hunger provide fresh food for 100 people per week, and this summer, more than 40 young people are scheduled to attend the STEM internship program Thomas brought to the campus two years ago. His son, the Rev. Dr. Walter Scott Thomas Jr., meanwhile, has earned rave reviews as the new senior pastor.
And a few miles to the south, Debnam is carrying on the Thomas tradition. He has grown Morning Star from a modest-sized church to a congregation of 1,500, and he can list a dozen former members who are pastoring churches of their own today.
“It wouldn’t have happened without Bishop Thomas,” he says.
Have a news tip? Contact Jonathan M. Pitts at jonpitts@baltsun.com.
Walter Scott Thomas Sr.
Age: 75
Hometown: Baltimore
Current residence: Ellicott City
Education: Baltimore Polytechnic Institute; University of Maryland, B.S.; Howard University School of Religion, M.Div.; Saint Mary’s Seminary & University, D.Min.
Career highlights: Lecturer and president, Hampton University Ministers Conference; bishop and presiding prelate, Kingdom Association of Covenant Pastors; representative of Christianity to the Alliance of Religions and Conservation, London; author of four books on spirituality and leadership.
Civic and charitable activities: Served as Head of Baltimore Cable Commission under Mayor Kurt Schmoke; member, board of directors, Reginald F. Lewis Museum
Family: Married to Patricia Grace Thomas; three children; six grandchildren