In 2024, UT Austin closed its Division of Campus and Community Engagement in response to Senate Bill 17, which effectively banned diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at public universities and colleges in Texas. The division had funded Latinx, queer and Black graduation ceremonies. These celebrations were often held on campus.
Student groups chose to hold the graduations anyway at off-campus locations. Greater Mt. Zion Church on Tannehill Lane offered to host the Black graduation ceremony in its space.
This is all part of the mission of the church, said Rev. Gaylon Clark, the guest on the latest episode of the "Black Austin Matters" podcast.
“I have a friend who said that Greater Mount Zion is the community living room and I love that,” Clark said.
Clark’s Journey to Austin
Clark has been a pastor at Greater Mt. Zion since 2000, but preaching in Austin was not always part of his plan. Growing up Clark, a Dallas native, had no intention of leaving his hometown city.
That was until he took a seminary course called "Discovering Your Design" at Dallas Theological Seminary.
“Part of that was identifying what it is that God wanted you to do," Clark said. "But also, where did God want you to be?”
His professor encouraged students to pray about where God wanted them to be in the world.
Four months later, while he was on vacation in Austin, he drove by the Erwin Center. There, Clark said, he finally got his answer.
“I sensed in my heart an impression from God that said 'this is the place,'” Clark said.
That was in 1995.
“Five years later, there was someone who communicated to me about an opening of a church named Greater Mount Zion," Clark said. “That's where the journey began.”
A mission of service
Clark said that his church is committed not just to its congregants, but to helping the larger Austin community.
“I think the main thing for us is that we see ourselves as being agents of city transformation,” he said. “We're here for the city. And, you know, one of our slogans is that 'we're in the city for the city.'”
“What we are most passionate about is poverty, economic empowerment. Fatherlessness ... and mental health.”
One of the other areas the church helps out in is education. They collaborate with other churches in a ministry called Education Connection.
“We found out that the third-grade reading level of students was a key determiner in their educational career," Clark said. “So we sought to mobilize churches to volunteer to be readers in various schools in their communities … We have schools from Austin all the way through Temple that have been serviced by readers who would go into the schools.”
One school they work in is Pecan Springs Elementary School, with more than 30 people volunteering their time.
“We do it every week … and not only that, we serve as hall monitors, and we’ve got people who serve as monitors during their lunches," Clark said. "We're committed to unnecessary kindness. We want to shock people with kindness. We want them to be taken aback by kindness.”
You can listen to the full interview by hitting play on the button at the top of this page, or find this episode and more on Apple, Spotify. or wherever you get your podcasts.
