Hundreds Gather to Pay Respects to the Rev. Dr. E. E.Coates

Hundreds gathered at the historic Wesley Chapel AME Church in Houston, Texas, on Saturday, June 16, to celebrate the life and ministry of the Rev. Dr. E. E. Coates, who died of natural causes earlier this month at the age of 96. The Rev. Coates was the pastor emeritus of Wesley Chapel, where he served for 37 years until he retired in 2002, after growing the church to become the largest and one of the most engaged AME churches in Texas.

Affectionately called only by his two initials, the Rev. Coates was known as an extraordinary pastor, a fiery preacher, and an influential community activist with a humble spirit.  Church leaders, congregants, and political and civic leaders from across the country came to honor this beloved pastor and community servant who left invaluable footprints in Houston.

The Rev. Coates was highly sought after by local, national, political, and religious leaders for his wise counsel. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee lauded the Rev. Coates as a gentle giant and an effective social activist who “walked the walk and talked the talk” Congresswoman Jackson Lee presented the family with a congressional resolution and a U.S. flag to be flown over the nation’s capital in the Rev. Coates’s honor.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner thanked the Rev. Coates for his civic responsibility for “attending to the needs inside the church but also attending to the needs outside the church. If we ever needed leaders like Pastor Coates we certainly need them today,” said Turner. He proclaimed June 4, 2018, as “Pastor E.E. Coates Day” in the City of Houston.

Bishop Vashti McKenzie, the presiding prelate of the Tenth Episcopal District, eulogized Pastor Coates and spoke of his “Lasting Legacy.” She acknowledged him as a “rare jewel” and “a legend in his own time.” Bishop McKenzie thanked him for his “preaching, church building, life investing, career enhancing, community transforming legacy” and for his “lasting legacy of investing in us.” In addition to Bishop McKenzie, presiding elders, pastors, and ministers from across Texas came in large numbers to pay respects to their esteemed colleague.

The church was filled with young adults proudly wearing the title of “Coates Kids,” having grown up in Wesley Chapel under Pastor Coates’s leadership. Carl Davis, a member of the General Board and one of Coates Kids, remembers him as “a caring pastor who helped to lay a solid foundation of faith in our lives and made us strong, successful Christian men and women today.” These “kids” and many former members returned to Wesley Chapel to sing in the “Wesley Reunion Choir” as a tribute to the Rev. Coates.

Along with Davis, many remember the Rev. Coates as a passionate and prolific preacher with a pastor’s heart. His ministry spanned more than nine decades with 14 pastoral charges in churches in Kansas, Wyoming, Missouri, and Texas.

With a powerful singing, teaching, and preaching ministry, he was a father in ministry, mentoring more than 35 preachers, presiding elders, and a bishop. This list included the late Bishop Sarah Frances Davis and the Rev. Dr. Leo Griffin, Wesley Chapel’s current pastor who officiated the service. “Pastor Coates preached the gospel and lived the gospel every day,” said the Rev. Walter Cuby, Wesley Chapel’s assistant pastor, as he spoke on behalf of the sons and daughters on the humility of the Rev. Coates.

The Rev. Coates served as a delegate to General Conferences and on the Episcopal Committee. Further, he was a member on the Board of Trustees at Paul Quinn College in Texas. Bishop Frank Madison Reid, III said, “He was one of the greatest preachers of his generation.” Upon learning of the passing of Rev. Coates, Retired Senior Bishop John R. Bryant said, “What a preacher, what a man!”

The celebration concluded with a soul-stirring rendition of “The Day is Past and Gone,” a recording of the Rev. Coates singing that played during the recessional.His legacy will live on through his devoted family, daughter, Lucille; son, Robert; daughter-in-love, Deborah; grandson, Tyler Coates; sister, Maloney Johnson; and the many lives impacted by his ministry.