His father warned him about them: The Dexter congregation was highly political, snobbish, and they had a reputation for devouring their pastors. They did not like a lot of whooping and hollering in their sermons. “At First Baptist,” Vernon Johns acidly told the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, “they don’t mind the preacher talking about Jesus, though they would never stoop so low as to talk about Him themselves. At Dexter Avenue they would prefer that you not mention his name.”
