Pastor Kenneth Clay talks fatherhood journey, calling to ministry, and being a T.W. Josey alum

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – Kenneth Clay is a husband, father, grandfather, and the pastor of New Creation Christian Church in Augusta, Georgia.

The Josey High School Alum sits down with WJBF to share his journey as a father and some lessons that he has learned throughout the years on this Father’s Day Edition of Celebrating Black Excellence.

Thank you for being here today on Celebrating Black Excellence. Let’s first start out with a little of your background. You graduated from T.W. Josey High School in 1983. You were the class president, and you were voted, Mr. Esquire. Now, for people who don’t know, what exactly is Mr. Esquire?

Well, Mr. Esquire is, I guess you can say, the equivalent to Miss Josey, like your school queen. So, I guess you could say I was like the school king. So back when I came out of high school, which was 1983, it was called Mr. Esquire, and now they call it Mr. Josey. So, yeah, that was the title that I held.

So for people who do not know, why is Josey so special to you?

Well, it’s special to me because number one, when I was growing up, it was either one or two schools that you went to: you either went to Josey or you went to [Lucy C. Craft] Laney [High School]. Of course, with me living in the neighborhood coming up around the 15th Street area, I went to Josey High School. Josey has always been dear to my heart and will always be dear to my heart, and of course, I was a part of the magnificent sonic boom of the South, which is the band, but that was our pride. Plus, it’s just a great institution. The educators – they loved us. They wanted to make sure that we were well-educated, well-rounded, and ready to go and become productive citizens in this community.

You also played the trumpet. What exactly drew you to that particular instrument?

Well, actually, to be honest with you, the reason I went to that instrument was because when I got in elementary school – I transferred from one elementary school to another – and I had some friends of mine who that went to Southside Elementary School with me, and when we got to A.C. Griggs, which don’t exist anymore, they were all in the band. So a couple of my friends… they were playing the trumpet. So I just said, “Well, you know, I want to play the trumpet too.” So, I just came home and told my mom and dad, “Hey, I want to play the trumpet,” and then, the rest is history.

You also are a Navy veteran. How was your experience like being in the service?

It was great. I joined the Navy in 1984, and I served for seven years. I got a chance to travel and see the world, but it was just a great growing opportunity for me. That was a time where I actually say that I became a man, you know. I just loved that opportunity. I wouldn’t change that opportunity. I’m grateful for the experience and for the friends that I made. Also just for the opportunities, like I said, to travel. I was able to travel the whole Pacific and see places that I probably would have never been able to see all my own.

You have been married for 38 years. In your opinion, what do you think makes a successful marriage or what is the key to the success of marriage?

Hard work. I mean, you have to work at it every single day. You know, I’m blessed and fortunate. I married my high school sweetheart, but even in doing that, in the 38 years, we just have to work at it. You know, it’s always work, give and take…. you know, those things that people have heard before, but I really just think the bottom line is you have to have to put the work in.

Now, you are a father of 6 and a grandfather of 4. Talk about the difference between being a dad and then being a granddad.

So, the biggest difference is I get to send the grandkids home to their parents. (Laughs) No, seriously though, you know, people always have said that when you have grandkids, it’s a difference, and it truly is a difference because, you raise your kids, and there were a lot of things we didn’t know about parenting. You know, I’ll be honest… I think there are still a lot of things we don’t know. When you become a grandparent, it’s just different. I don’t know… it’s just something about seeing a grandchild, you know. They just seem like they just have a different place in your heart. Grandbabies are just different. They’re just different. It’s hard to explain, but they just have a different place in your heart. Maybe God created it that way. (Laughs)

What’s the one thing that brings you joy about being a parent?

Watching you guys all succeed in your dreams and your aspirations. One of the things I had to learn was that number one, you can’t put your dreams on your kids: your dreams or your vision. You kind of have to learn the bend of all your kids because all of you guys are different; you have different dreams, different aspirations, different gifts. I’m just so grateful to see all of my children excelling and doing the things that you’ve been called to do, and I just want to be supportive of that.

You are also the pastor of New Creation Christian Church. When someone says they are called to preach or called to be a pastor, what exactly does that mean and what was that experience like for you?

Well, I’m just going to speak on my experience and what I feel. When I felt called to be a pastor, I felt God was calling me to, number one, be a good teacher communicator of His Word and to be able to care for people. I think that’s probably the main gift of a pastor: to be able to teach and also to be able to care and be a shepherd. Also, I have an administrative gift. I’m a good administrator in pretty much every job I’ve had because I’m a vocational pastor, meaning that I work outside of the church. I don’t just do ministry full time. I work outside of the church, outside of the ministry. So those gifts, to me, is what I feel a person needs to be called a pastor. I think that should be their heart, which is to be able to teach the people, to be able to care for the people, as well as being able to make sure that they’re a good administrator of the church.

New Creation Christian Church has existed for 21 years. How does that feel?

It feels good. We planted the church back in 2003, and we tease about this, but we have the slogan: we’re the church that will love to have you… if you can find us. In 21 years, we’ve never owned a building, or a brick and mortar building. We’ve all always rented space for our worship service. The reason behind that has always been because I just felt like it was just too much overhead to have a brick and mortar building, and we could do more things with our resources as far as helping people and ministry work-wise rather than getting it tied up into mortgages, upkeep, and all of that stuff.

For people who want to know more about the church or where New Creation is located, can you please give us that information?

New Creation Christian Church is located at right now. Well, actually, we’ve been there for seven or eight years now, I think, but we’re currently worshiping at Garrett Elementary School, which is located at 1100 Eisenhower Drive, which is right off of Washington Road, right in front of the Augusta National. We’re there every Sunday at 9:00 AM. We also have a website. If you want to go to our website, you can find us on at www.newcreationchristianchurch.org. We also have a church app: the New Creation Christian Church app; you have to put all of that in so you can make sure that you pull up the right app. Those are the ways that you can find us. Also, we have our services on Facebook Live every Sunday. So, you can just go to our Facebook page, which is New Creation Christian Church, and you can watch us every Sunday morning at 9 A.M.

Last question, what is a piece of advice that you could give to other fathers out there, or what is something that you would want to tell young Kenneth as a father?

Oh, that’s a good question. I think that I have already answered that, but I think probably the most important thing that I can tell any father is that I think I could give any father is number one, learn your kids. Learn their bend, and what I mean by learning their bend is to learn what their giftedness is: their dreams and their aspirations, and then, be supportive of that. Just be supportive of that. You got to make those recitals, make those performances… you got to make time for that. I know a lot of times we as dads get busy with work and with other things, but you have to take the time out to make time for the kids. I know I haven’t done it perfectly, but I try to. Just be supportive. Learn your kids, and then, be supportive of them. I think that’s probably the best advice that I can give. Also, be patient.