…happening,” said Green. “I was knocking on doors of the hotel, telling complete strangers I’d been born again. Some lady slammed the door in my face. I went to the next door and said, ‘I been born again!’ They called security.”
“Church is so important for black people because it’s the only place we had to go when we couldn’t go no place else. Couldn’t go to the bar — wasn’t allowed. Couldn’t go to the hotel because we weren’t able to rent a room. Couldn’t go to the restaurant because we weren’t allowed to be seated. So we went to church.”
“I think God chose to speak to me because I’m softhearted and he knew that I would be dumb enough to actually try,” says Green.
By the late ’70s, Green had devoted himself almost entirely to religious music. In 1976 he became a Baptist minister, buying the Full Gospel Tabernacle church in Memphis, where he continues to preach today. As horrific as Mary Woodson’s suicide was, it helped the man who once sang ”Call Me” to find what he believes to be his true calling.
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Al Green: “What I Learned…” was originally published on blackdoctor.org
