BETHANY BAPTIST CHURCH PASTOR DR. WILLIAM GLAZE, ADRIENNE YOUNG, CYNTHIA MCCLEOD. (PHOTO BY ROB TAYLOR JR.)
‘We all need to do a better job of valuing life’
Only a few days and, for the most part, a few steps from where a young Black man lost his life and another man was shot on Frankstown Avenue in Homewood, Bethany Baptist Church set up shop and took the church’s message outward.
The church, located at 7745 Tioga St. in Homewood, held its annual Community Day several blocks from the church, at a grassy field on the corner of Frankstown Avenue and Sterrett Street, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. Over the course of five hours, scores of people came to the event to take in inspirational and Bible-based messages from those like Rev. William Baker IV, community advocate Adrienne Young, and longtime Bethany Baptist Pastor Dr. William Glaze.
For those who didn’t attend the event, they couldn’t miss the setup. There were at least 500 vehicles that passed by and had to see the event happening, with the four-way stop at Frankstown and Sterrett for vehicles.
“This is an opportunity for us to show the residents the love of God outside of the church,” Rev. Dr. Glaze told the New Pittsburgh Courier at the event. “A lot of times we stay focused in the four walls, so we want to come outside the four walls and be a blessing to the community.”
The corner of Frankstown and Sterrett is not where a homicide has taken place this year; however, just to the left and right of the intersection have been the scenes of a deadly shooting and a non-fatal shooting in the past two months or so.
RONNIE, LAYLA AND A’MIRA, AT THE BETHANY BAPTIST COMMUNITY DAY.
On June 15, 2026, an altercation in the 7300 block of Frankstown Avenue, near the Homewood Healthy Active Living Senior Center, sparked a shooting that sent a man to the hospital with gunshot wounds to the shoulder and chest. He survived.
On Aug. 18, 2026, an altercation led to a double shooting inside a convenience store in the 7200 block of Frankstown, resulting in the death of 29-year-old Shakir Jackson of East Hills. Early the next morning, Anthony Hall was found shot to death on neighboring Idlewild Street.
“What we are doing here today represents life,” added Rev. Dr. Glaze. “We’re trying to bring life to the community. We have food for the community, we have spiritual resources, games for the kids, clothes that we’re giving away. So we’re all about promoting life…to me, the most important life is life in Christ, that’s why Jesus came and He died on the cross, so that we may have eternal life. We’re about bringing life, and ultimately a life of Christ.”
Over the loudspeakers, Rev. Baker IV called on anyone who could hear his voice who needed prayer to meet with a Bethany Baptist Church member, including himself.
“God is working in the community, He’s liberating in the community, He’s setting free in the community. He’s using the community to set the community free with the love of God,” Rev. Baker IV said. “There’s nobody perfect in the church. The church is just a hospital of people who have been healed by Jesus, going to tell other people about the healing of Jesus.”
Reverend Baker IV added: “God loves the community.”
Reverend Dr. Glaze said that when shooting deaths occur, oftentimes it’s due to people not valuing human life. “Human life, from the womb to the tomb, is valuable,” he said. “It should be respected…We all need to do a better job of valuing life, and as we value life, I think there’s more positivity that takes place, more uplifting, and more people trying to help people up than to take them down.”
GAIL BLAKEY, JOANN SEWELL, RYU SEWELL.
JONELLE WATSON, WITH BETHANY BAPTIST CHURCH. (PHOTOS BY ROB TAYLOR JR.)
