The Arlington community celebrated with joy but some sadness the departure of The Rev. DeLishia Davis as the pastor of the historic Calloway United Methodist Church. The church bulletin board out front says “Open Minds, Open Hearts, Open Doors.”
Calloway church was established in 1866 in the historically Black Halls Hill neighborhood of Arlington a couple of miles away from its current site where it began as a prayer service. The current church was built on its present site at 5000 Langston Blvd. in 1904 where it serves a multicultural congregation today.
Davis has been reassigned to a Methodist Church in Fairfax with the rotating assignments traditional for the pastors of the Methodist Church. Davis has been a pastor for 28 years serving in Mississippi, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
She says her parents were military so she adjusts very well to the changes in life. “I’m ok with it.” She traces her calling back to five generations of pastors beginning with her great great grandfather in Wilmington, N. Carolina.
She has served at Calloway for 8 years where she has reached beyond the walls of the church into the lives of Arlingtonians in her many roles in the community including her duties as current President of the local NAACP.
She thinks back to when she arrived at Calloway. “I found a small aging congregation but loving and kind. When I used to eat at Heidelberg Bakery right next door, people would often tell me thay didn’t know the church was still operating. We have grown in ministries since then and getting people to come in and also formed a number of community relationships.”
Davis has also set up a food pantry inside the church on Tuesdays and Thursdays for canned food and groceries packaged in containers. Other days there is food located in a container outside the church. “People come by all the time. We also give them a gift card for perishables.”
Davis thinks her biggest challenge was getting people back into the church after Covid. “A lot of people chose to stay home, and we had 30 deaths in the congregation during that period of time.” She says some people still choose to watch the special recorded service on Sunday.
“I try to get them to come back to worship in person.”
During the ceremony Davis was lauded many times for her work, both serving the congregation and the broader community, and her efforts to always give 100 percent.
The Rev. James Victor, pastor of Mount Olivet Methodist Church on Glebe Road preached on Numbers 6:24-26, the popular benediction which allowed him to recount the ways Davis has been blessed by God and in turn has blessed the Arlington community. “This blessing will carry on for Rev. Davis and the Arlington community.”
Leaders, clergy and friends spoke in turn about Davis’ contributions to the community.
Arlington County Board chair Takis Karantonis as well as the Vice Chair Matt de Ferranti gave remarks along with an emotional remembrance by Commonwealth Attorney Parissa Dehghanti. The church was filled with community leaders and clergy, friends, family and members of Calloway.
June 30, was Davis’ last day. As she looks forward to her next assignment, she says she will first take time to get to know the congregation, to be an observer and assess the needs in the community.
“Success is just having the relationships.”
But she says although everyone likes a new challenge, “I want Calloway to know they will always have a place in my heart. I have loved being a pastor in Arlington.They have become like family, and I will always be around for them.”