William Robert Mack Porter; Minister, AME Church Leader

The Rev. William Robert Mack Porter, 75, a veteran minister who mixed wisdom, boldness and mentorship as a leader in the African Methodist Episcopal Church for more than three decades, died of cancer Dec. 30 at Washington Hospital Center.

Rev. Porter was pastor for 33 years at Hemingway African Methodist Episcopal Church in District Heights, where he launched numerous programs and transformed a sleepy congregation of 20 members into a vibrant ministry of more than 1,000 that groomed dozens of pastors who went on to lead their own flocks.

"Rev. Porter was always a prophetic voice to the denomination, regardless of the personal consequences to himself," said the Rev. Grainger Browning, pastor of Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Church, who served under Rev. Porter years ago. "He always made the gospel practical, and you could apply what he taught to your everyday life."

He came from modest circumstances. A native Washingtonian and graduate of Armstrong Senior High School, he enlisted in the Air Force, where he served tours in Germany and France. He returned to Washington and attended Miner Teachers College and Howard University's School of Divinity. In the meantime, he drove for Capitol Cab until he went to work for the federal government for more than 30 years, first at the Census Bureau and later at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

During the 1963 March on Washington, Rev. Porter helped carry to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial a coffin with a sign reading, "Jim Crow Is Dead." Family members said the photo was picked up by Jet and Ebony magazines and a number of other national publications. Rev. Porter took part in other events with Martin Luther King Jr., and during the early years of the District's home rule, he was invited to the White House to meet with President Lyndon B. Johnson as youth advocate for D.C. Mayor Walter E. Washington.

As a child, he worshiped at Mount Airy Baptist Church, but as a young adult he attended the First Baptist Church of North Brentwood and Liberty Baptist Church before being drawn to the African Methodist Episcopal Church, where he was ordained. He went on to hold several positions in the Washington conference of the AME Church.

"I never knew a person who gave so much to so many but asked very little for himself," said Browning, adding that Rev. Porter was a strong advocate for women in leadership in the AME Church. "He broke new ground by being one of the most loyal and early supporters of Bishop Vashti McKenzie as the first female bishop in the AME Church."

Rev. Porter was a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Collective Banking Group, the Biblical Institute for Social Change, the Capitol Hill Jaycees and the U.S. Chaplain Association. He retired from Hemingway a few years ago, and he and his wife were on staff as ministers to seniors at Ebenezer AME Church in Fort Washington.

In 2005, Ebenezer was packed with more than 2,000 people when Bishop Adam J. Richardson gave Rev. Porter and two other veteran ministers their certificates of retirement. Rev. Porter fought back tears as he reflected on his tenure of service in the Second Episcopal District of the AME Church.

"It is very emotional when you have been somewhere for 33 years and you have baptized babies and the babies of the babies," he said at the time.

Survivors include his wife of 53 years, Doris A. Porter; four daughters, Robin Porter Smith of the District, Dionne Porter Luckett of Suitland, Darian Porter Jones of Wake Forest, N.C., and the Rev. Dana Porter Ashton of Owings Mills, Md.; a sister, Sarah Harley of Landover; a brother, Earl Mack of Washington; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.