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A Village Keeper Serves in Many Way

by Ruth Ann Ruiz
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By Ruth Ann Ruiz

The Post Newspaper Features Editor

Edward Paul Grogan III is only 27 years old, but if you sat between him and an opaque screen and just listened to him speak, you would think he had been walking on planet earth for at least half a century. Or maybe he had even walked the earth back in the times of ancient peoples. His wisdom, knowledge and maturity far exceed his chronological age. 

He comes from a family of fifteen children, not all of them are his siblings. His mother’s love for her sisters meant that when one of her sisters passed away, she opened her four-bedroom one-bathroom home to take in her nieces and nephews. And when another of his mother’s sisters was not able to continue the journey of raising children, again his mother welcomed in still more children. 

Grogan vividly remembers going from being the youngest of three children to being one of fifteen, and his placement in that number no longer seemed important. What was important was his growing faith in Jesus Christ and the word of God, which was developed through the steadfast love of his grandmother. 

“I was in my mother’s womb when my grandmother was invited to Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church,” Grogan shared. His grandmother became a member there and brought little baby Edward to church with her. There he began his walk of faith. 

“My faith was cultivated by my grandmother, and my mother’s faith was cultivated through me.” 

Grogan recalled how his mother, around the same time she opened her home to his cousins, opened her heart to God. 

His smile grows as he goes back in time, which really isn’t so far back in time, given that he is only 27 years old, but he smiles and talks about the days when his mother walked all 15 of the children she was raising to L.A. Morgan Elementary School. 

“She’s always had a loving heart for children, and I get my love of young people from her,” Grogan said.

His professional life keeps him surrounded by children. He leads them in their faith formation and in their growth as young people who will be successful in school and life beyond school.

Grogan is currently serving at the youth pastor at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church (MBC) in Galveston and for the past four months, he has served as the executive director of Communities in Schools of Galveston County. 

While chatting with him, I did not sense he preferred one job over the other. As a youth pastor, he is committed to teaching children the word of God and keeping children focused on developing their faith. While working with Communities in Schools, he is concerned with making sure children’s basic needs are met so that they can focus on learning.

As a youth pastor, he fervently believes in the importance of children learning God’s word. 

“When Christ was tempted by Satan, he rebuked Satan by saying ‘It is Written’ Christ used the word of God to fight off Satan’s temptations, and that’s what I teach young people to do,” Grogan explained. “Stay in the Bible, where we find God’s word, because God’s word, feeds our faith.” 

Listening to him speak and watching him demonstrate a lesson he uses with children, I felt inspired to spend more time with my Bible to deepen my own faith. In fact, when he shared a Bible verse, I shared another one with him.

Grogan went on to explain how he had heard God’s call to be a preacher when he was just 7 years old, but he ran from that call until he was 15 when he did preach his first sermon at Macedonia MBC. 

While we sat and talked and the sun was sinking deeper into the western sky, he explained that growing up in a Black Baptist Church gave him the sense of how a Black Baptist pastor speaks to his flock.

But the world is bigger than the church of his childhood, and Grogan’s debate teacher at Ball High School pushed young Grogan to go beyond what would be acceptable public speaking skills for the church of his youth. Grogan is grateful for the urging of his debate teacher because when he was attending college and served as an intern minister at a United Methodist Church, he was able to speak in a way that reached the congregation.  

Today, with a bachelor’s degree in communication Grogan is ready to communicate through speech and other methods with people of all backgrounds. His master’s degree in educational administration has enabled him to head the call to lead and serve in the lives of young people.  

His stature — I don’t mean his physical height — is growing in the community. He was selected to be one of the village keepers for Galveston’s celebration of Kwanzaa. This caught him by surprise. He wasn’t sure he deserved the honor. He named others in the community whom he thought were more deserving of the honor. 

He continued to share with me what guides him in his daily living which he also shared with the selection committee.  This approach to life may be part of why he was selected for the honor. 

“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, that I could say, ‘God I used everything you gave me.’” Grogan said.

He has, through his short number of adult years, given back to the community in a way one might visualize a village keeper would give, starting with his college years when he worked as a teacher at Galveston’s Freedom School. 

According to the website Galveston’s Nia Cultural Center, “The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom Schools® is a six-week, full-day program for students in grades K-12 that seeks to build strong, literate, and empowered children prepared to make a difference in themselves, their families, communities, the nation, and the world.”  

Grogan’s passion for guiding children in their faith is evidenced in Khi Edwards, Galveston County’s 2024 Little Mr. Juneteenth. 

I had heard of Grogan and witnessed his devotion to the lives and souls of Galveston’s youth the day I interviewed young Khi, who quoted Bible verses and shared his steadfast faith with me. Finally, I too had the chance to meet this youth pastor whose profound devotion to God and children is a shining light in Galveston County.  

As I mentioned young Khi, Grogan assured me the boy’s leadership qualities and the strength of his faith come not through him but was because of Khi’s devoted family. However, I suspect Grogan has more influence on children than he wants to take credit for. 

Grogan believes without a doubt that his own success today is due to the devoted people who came through his life in his younger years. 

One such person was Mrs. Connie Hebert, who was his principal at Central Middle School and later became the executive director of Communities in School.

“I was ready to be put off campus because of my behavior, and Mrs. Hebert who was with Communities in School, came into the school and asked to be allowed to work with me. And she did just that,” Grogan said. 

“Communities in School believed in me and encouraged me to study and apply to college, and they found the funds for my college education. Through the support of my church, family and Communities in School, college was possible for me.” Grogan explained. 

Out of all the children his mother has raised, Grogan is the first one to complete a college degree along with a master’s degree and now he is embarking on a doctorate degree from Prairie View A&M University. This  will require him to spend at about one week every month in Prairie View. 

He does not plan to miss a beat in his work for schools and children in Galveston County while he completes his doctoral degree. He plans to commute back and forth so he can continue his service to the children of Galveston County while working on the degree.

As far as how continuing his education will affect his calling to preach, well, for now, God has placed it on his heart that he is called to serve and that being a preacher is more than standing in a pulpit and preaching. Being a preacher means serving God’s people in the way God needs him to serve in the moment. 

Edward Grogan III does preach even when he is not serving as the pastor of a church. Afterall, he spends his Sunday’s teaching children about God’s word. Plus having a conversation with him is like listening to an old-school Baptist minister as he shares his love of God and his faith. 

He won’t be alone in his service to young people, God and his pursuit of a doctoral degree.  He has recently become engaged to a woman whom he describes as the most amazing and wonderful woman he has ever met.

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