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Story and Photos by Eric J.S. Townsend
Donell Peterman was called "preacher" long before
he assumed the role. Nowadays, he also goes by "council member."
But if the 35-year-old Takoma Park pastor were to pick one
title that encapsulates his life, it would be "servant."
Peterman presides over the Joshua Group Ministries,
a Silver Spring church with active community outreach programs.
He also assumed the District 5 Council seat in June when Derick
Berlage stepped down to head the county's planning commission.
"It's about being a servant," Peterman
said. "'Reverend' and 'pastor'-that's all good and well
for those who need that type of ego thing. I'm looking at
what God would call me."
Roles as pastor and politician are not mutually
exclusive for the Florida native.
"If you are compassionate about people
as a pastor, you have to be concerned about the politics,"
Peterman said. "When [people] leave worship on Sunday
morning, they live in a world whereby they have to be able
to maneuver around a system. Having a pastor actively involved
in the community and in politics-it's to their benefit."
In December, Peterman departs an office which
six other candidates are clamoring to fill in the upcoming
2002 election, leaving peers and politicians wondering when
his next move may come.
"All of my friends from childhood know
me as wanting to be the governor of the state of Florida,"
he chuckled. "[But] I can remember one of my pastors
telling me, 'God has put something on your life. You're going
preach this Gospel, you're not going to govern anything.'"
Preaching seemed a natural fit. Even at an
early age, Peterman radiated enthusiasm on Sunday mornings
when his family worshiped at their Baptist congregation. The
day never lasted long enough for the round, chunky boy, who
would wait by the curb for the Rev. E.C. Edcar to arrive,
just to carry the man's suitcase inside.
"I could never get enough of church,"
he said. "I love being inside the sanctuary. I love the
music, the sermon, to see people come dressed up for church,
to see the ushers in the aisles. That's always been a passion
of mine, the whole feeling of church."
Relatives held office in various parish organizations.
Those ties cemented Peterman's positive views on God and the
role of religion in his life. His family members also believe
his involvement in the church catalyzed political skills such
as public speaking.
Born to middle class parents in Dania, just
outside Fort Lauderdale, Peterman navigated two separate universes
during childhood: his affluent black neighborhood, and an
affluent white school system. The two sometimes collided.
"Because you were bused out of your black
community, you did come back, but then you went to the white
school, and so you kind of talked white, you tried to act
white, you have white friends now, you're on the debate team,
you think you're white," he explained. "So you had
to prove in your community that you were still black."
Jimmie Peterman, Donell's brother and now a
member of the church's Board of Trustees, said their hometown
provided Donell an open view of how politics can shape lives.
"Being in a small city, the political scene
was right in front of you," Jimmie Peterman said. "You
knew the people; you knew you could go to the chamber of commerce
or the city to get whatever you needed addressed."
Hollywood Hills High School presented opportunities
for Peterman to further his fledgling speaking abilities.
He joined the debate team and participated in student government,
honing a voice that would captivate large audiences in the
coming years.
"Donell wasn't the athletic type,"
said his father, Jimmie Bradford Peterman. "He played
football, but that wasn't his gift-his gift was speaking.
We have a room full of trophies that he won from all over
[the country]."
Peterman enlisted with the U.S. Army after graduation
from Morehouse College in Atlanta, where he earned a bachelor's
in history in 1989. Military service fit into a master plan
for politics.
"You had to show yourself as one who's
willing to give service to your country," he said. "I
wish I could say it was because I wanted to go fight for my
country, but in my mind, it was part of my career track. In
God's plan, it was to teach some valuable lessons."
A spiritual turning point for Peterman came
during his military career, while he was stationed in Houston.
One night in March 1991, he leapt from bed and began preaching
to the 80-plus men asleep in his barracks.
Though he woke most of them, he said, none complained.
And one month later, the late Rev. John Jack Rector licensed
him at the Antioch Baptist Church in San Antonio.
"Any time he came to Florida to preach,
the guys came off the corners. The drug dealer, whoever did
what, they come here to hear him preach when he comes home,"
said Jimmie Peterman. "That's a testimony to his ability
to reach different types of people."
The Army moved Peterman to the Washington area.
He eventually left the service, and on Sept. 26, 1996, the
Joshua Group Ministries began as a four-person Bible study
in Peterman's Silver Spring apartment. Six years later, the
ministry is a 500-member strong parish.
Parishioners say Peterman's ability to relate
God with everyday life has instilled them with a sense of
faith.
"He takes the Bible and interprets it into
today's terms, today's understandings. And he's very electrifying,"
said Bob Kinzer, who has attended the church for four years.
In 1999 Peterman married his wife, Michelle,
a physical therapist at Holy Cross Hospital. The two soul
mates developed a friendship six years earlier out of their
work helping to prevent teenage pregnancy.
"It's something we share: a passion toeducate
teens about responsibility, self-esteem and sexuality," Peterman
said.
His volunteerism doesn't end there. Peterman
is the current president of the Silver Spring Rotary International
Club, he mentors for the Family Learning Solution in the Rosemary
Hills community, he is an active member of the National Urban
League and the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People, and he serves as a consultant to CONSERVE,
a homeless advocacy group Ð just to name a few jobs.
Political office is new to that list. Council
members, including Isiah Leggett and Steve Silverman, approached
the community leader in June about possibly filling Berlage's
seat for an interim period.
Peterman joined the council just prior to Montgomery
County Executive Douglas Duncan's "Go Montgomery!" initiative,
which calls for $1 billion toward local transportation infrastructure
improvements. The county council approved an overwhelming
majority of the package, minus one thing-an inter-county connector
linking Interstate 270 with Interstate 95 in Prince George's
County.
One of three "nay" votes came fromPeterman,
though it contradicted personal beliefs.
"I think they ought to build it, bottom line,"
he said. "Derick had voted against it for 12 years, and the
people in this community had elected Derick, so I thought
that was a position that should be honored."
Topping his agenda in the coming months is
the issue of affordable housing.
"I bet there is a relationship between a child
who is in an overcrowded apartment, and their performance
in a school, versus a child that's in a comfortable living
arrangement. There's a link," he said.
Peterman may not be running for re-election,
but he has no hesitation about supporting Democrat Sally Sternbach,
someone he said has worked closely with the church for several
years.
Sternbach's respect is reciprocated. "I would
hope he never leaves these roots, because that kind of warmth
and wisdom, you don't find it very often," she said. "There
are not that many people that exude the all-embracing energy
that he does. He never stops."
It's still too soon for many people to predict
Peterman's political future following his step down from the
county council. Even the pastor shrugs his shoulders, though
everyone around him believes his potential to succeed is not
a question.
"When you get the kind of person who is hardworking
and honest, who tries to bring people together, you're going
to get notice and respect for that kind of relationship,"
Leggett said.
"It's possible he may go into politics; it's
possible he may not," Michelle Peterman said. "His focus is
the church. Obviously he has other things going on right now,
but he wants to make sure we're meeting the needs of the community."
Even those who appear critical of Peterman at
first glance really are not. Councilmember Marilyn Praisner
(D-Dist. 4), supported Marian Friar to fill the open District
5 seat, but voted in Peterman's favor when it became evident
he had majority support on the council.
Her initial endorsement of Friar, however, was
not because of anything Peterman had said or done. Praisner
simply knew Friar on a more personal and professional level.
"[Donell] seems like a dedicated, engaged and
very caring individual," Praisner said. "It was in no way
a criticism of Donell, and I think he understands."
With no outspoken critics, a growing church
and the political establishment at his back, it may only be
a matter of time before Peterman takes a statewide-or perhaps
national-role in shaping policy.
"People say, 'Well, do you have the bug?'" Peterman
said. "I've always had the bug for politics. It's still the
same desire I have to serve in some capacity."
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