Homegoing service reflects the lasting impact of Bishop Calvin Scott 

At Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church on Saturday, May 2, Pastor Daphne Bruce framed celebration of life service for Bishop Calvin Scott with a simple truth: “We are here to celebrate a life well lived.”

The sanctuary, which seats 2,500, was nearly filled to capacity. Another 800 people watched online through Friendly Temple’s YouTube channel.

Across the four-hour service, one scripture returned again and again: 2 Timothy 4:7.

“I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.” 

“When Paul was writing to his protégé Timothy, Paul encourages Timothy to fight a good fight,” said Bishop Michael Jones in his eulogy. Jones was more than the host pastor. He had known Scott since arriving at Northwest High School as a 14-year-old freshman. Scott, then a sophomore wrestler, taught him the ropes.

“I didn’t know anything about wrestling except wrestling at the Chase with Dick the Bruiser,” Jones said. “And I didn’t know that we would wrestle together in a different way.”

For more than three decades, the two wrestled for souls.

The earthly fight ended for the founding pastor of Believers Temple on April 16, 2026, after a battle with ALS.

“He never stopped declaring that God is still good and God is still in control,” Bruce said. “We pray that the anointing that was on him will be carried by the lives he touched. He showed us that God is still good, even when He makes decisions that break our heart.”

Hearts were broken, but as his health declined, his faith deepened. The speaker who best illustrated Bruce’s words was Scott himself, through a video tribute of his preaching.

“When you are anointed, your tests are to the tenth power,” Scott said in the video. “He blessed you to stand in the anointing.”

When he preached those words, he had no idea he would live them through his fight with ALS.

“Bishop Scott was a shepherd,” said Pastor Abraham Washington. “He was a gifted speaker, but he was a shepherd. Anybody can hold a microphone, but only a special man can hold a soul.”

The souls he touched shared how he shaped their lives.

Johnnie Becton was one of the original eight members who joined Believers Temple when it first opened on Natural Bridge. Now under the leadership of Scott’s daughter, Pastor Leandra Green, Becton said she hopes to remain at Believers Temple “until I go to glory.”

“When I lost my husband, my mother, and my daughter, he was there for me,” Becton said. “You preached the word, but you also lived the word. I thank him for showing me what a man of God looked like.”

Men, women, and children came forward with reflections, stories, and gratitude, speaking of Scott as if he were still physically present, because in many ways he was.

“Everything you saw here today was written, produced, and directed by Bishop Calvin Scott,” Jones said. “When he got the news, he said, ‘I’m planning my funeral, and I’m gonna have it at your church. I’m not believing what the doctors say, but I’m planning.’”

Through videos, Scott offered words of encouragement to his siblings and his three daughters.

“It was always my desire to be a stand-up guy for my three girls,” he said. “There are no words that can truly conceptualize my love for you.”

He had a special message for Pastor Green, who recently celebrated her first pastoral anniversary at Believers Temple.

“When I watch your ministry, I see myself,” Scott said. “The same God who was there for me will be there for you.”

Jones shared that before his diagnosis, Scott had been ready to retire. He planned to golf in Florida until he noticed his muscle mass diminishing and his body failing.

“Nobody expects the news he received,” Jones said. “That you only have a few years left to live.”

According to those who spoke, he lived those years the same way he lived all the others.

“In his toughest moments, he remained a man who was true to his faith,” Jones said. “He was demonstrating to us what faith looks like — what not giving up looks like.”

Jones recalled seeing Scott return to his former church home.

“On February 2, 2025, I saw him sitting at Lively Stone,” Jones said. “You just saw the video of him preaching… Scott was a phenom of a preacher. They rolled him into that place. He looked at the text and said his subject was, ‘I am an overcomer.’ That man sat in his wheelchair and told his story. Scott always displayed strength. He was a demonstration of what being an overcomer is.”

Even as his health declined, he continued to minister and to prepare his family to carry his legacy.

“My father tried to prepare us for this moment, but I am still up here at a loss for words,” Green said. “He showed us what it meant to work hard, love God, and love your family. He gave me the best life a daughter could ever ask for. The sacrifices he made for us could never be repaid.”

“He wasn’t just a father, he was a daddy,” said Andrea Scott. “He showed us what a man of God was, not just in public but in private.”

And he was a man of God who showed up.

“When I had my 30th appreciation and I knew he was sick,” Jones said, “the last thing I expected was for Scott to show up. He was weak, he was worn, he was withered. But he came rolling in there just to let me know he loved me.”

His life — especially in the face of an unfathomable health challenge — encouraged every life he touched, including Jones.

“He finished strong. He ran through that finish line,” Jones said.

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