Former Mayor Willie Adams: Henry Mathis trying to ‘hijack’ Shiloh Baptist Church

ALBANY — Former Albany Mayor Willie Adams said he and other members of Shiloh Baptist Church are taking exception to what he described as former Albany City Commissioner Henry Mathis’ attempts to “hijack” their church.

Adams’ comments came in response to an article Thursday in The Albany Herald in which Mathis talked about the second King Day Walk planned to start at Shiloh at noon on Jan. 16. Noting the dearth of area education, government, religious and business leaders at the first King Walk last year, Mathis said, “If you’re going to lead, lead, and not just on Sundays or on the days you’re working. At last year’s walk, we saw very few pastors, educators, elected officials and business leaders. Those are the very people who should be out front at this walk.”

Adams said the criticism is part of an orchestrated effort by Mathis to “hijack Shiloh Baptist Church” and to “insinuate himself into a leadership position” in the community.

Mathis announced his plans to run for mayor last year, but the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole did not restore his civil and political rights, action needed for him to qualify as a candidate. Mathis served almost three years in a federal corrections facility in Jesup after being convicted of extortion while in office.

Mathis has continued to claim he was falsely accused and wrongly convicted in the case.

“As one of this community’s former leaders, as the first black mayor of Albany, I’m concerned about Henry Mathis’ comments enough to contact you,” Adams said Thursday morning. “The first thing I want to point out is that Mr. Mathis is not the associate pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church, as the story stated. And after talking with the leadership of the church, there is concern that he is trying to desecrate our church’s history.

“Mr. Mathis expected, I believe, to be named pastor of Shiloh when Rev. (H.C.) Boyd passed away, but the church rejected that notion. They did not line up behind Mr. Mathis. To be frank with you, Mr. Mathis has not even been to church at Shiloh in the last couple of months.”

Mathis said Thursday that he had been to services at Shiloh in recent weeks, and that he had no ulterior motive in advocating for the King Day Walk, which is a re-enactment of civil rights marches conducted by the Albany Movement during the 1960s.

“I want to, first, point out that I was like a son to Rev. Boyd. On the day that he died, I was in the ambulance with the EMTs as they tried to revive him,” Mathis said. “I was with Rev at times when no one else was with him. He knew how much I was committed to Shiloh.

“As for all this other stuff, I’m going to take the high road there. My only purpose in being involved in (the walk) is to help educate the future generations of the sacrifices made by African-Americans during the civil rights era. This issue is bigger than Henry Mathis. And it’s bigger than Willie Adams.”

Adams, though, said Mathis should not be criticizing the current community leadership.

“Mr. Mathis has a way of giving himself titles and leadership roles that are not true,” the former mayor said. “In this case, it seems to many at Shiloh that he is using the church to try and further his own ambitions. That’s something we don’t intend to be a part of.”