Published: May 13, 2008 06:31 am         

Couple embraces young people

Crenshaws open home to ‘spiritual’ family

DANVILLE — Since the Rev. Floyd and Raenell Crenshaw moved to Danville in 1995, they have made life better for dozens of young people.

“Educating and building self-esteem is what we’re all about,” Raenell said. “We want anyone to feel free to come to us with their troubles.”

Floyd is pastor and Raenell is co-pastor of the Christian Center for Hope at 804 W. Williams St. The couple specializes in serving as “spiritual parents” for young people between the ages of 18 and 35.

Their strong Christian values, loving hearts and firm discipline policies make them naturals for the parenting role.

The Crenshaws have two children of their own — Solomon, 16, who’s a sophomore at Schlarman High School, and Floyd Spencer II, 19, who attends Indiana Institute of Technology in Indianapolis.

Solomon is on the football and track teams at Schlarman, and plays the drums and keyboard in his church. He also is training to be a lifeguard so he can get a job at Garfield Park pool this summer. Solomon wants to go into law enforcement some day.

The Crenshaws also have raised three children from another Danville family. About seven years ago, a single mother from their church who was dying of cancer asked the Crenshaws to take in her three children and raise them as their own.

The two oldest children from that family are already grown. The youngest, Mallory Lampkin, 16, is a freshman at Schlarman and has lived with the Crenshaws since he was 9.

“They’ve given me a good home,” Mallory said. “They treat me just like their son, and I’ve always called them Mom and Dad. They help me to keep doing the right thing.”

Mallory plays football, basketball and track at SHS. He wants to play for the NFL someday or become an athletic trainer.

Floyd and Raenell always have been supportive of their children’s activities.

“I believe I know every one of those Schlarman cheers by heart,” Raenell said, laughing. “The whole family really gets into the game when one of the kids is on the team.”

The family also enjoys water sports together. They recently scaled down from a large pontoon boat to a ski boat.

The Crenshaws are constantly welcoming young people into their home.

“We have kids coming in and out of our house all the time,” Raenell said. “Some years back it wasn’t unusual to have 15 kids here at once on the weekend.”

Brighttany Pollitt, 20, sat at the Crenshaws’ kitchen table and talked openly about her positive relationship with the pastor and co-pastor.

“I went to them with some issues when I was just 15,” she said. “I never went to church back then, and my life was pretty confusing. Thanks to the Crenshaws, for the last few years I’ve been real faithful about going to church.”

Brighttany currently works in child development and runs the Collegiate Ministry at Danville Area Community College.

“I like it here with Pastor Floyd and Raenell,” she said. “We can just hang out, eat pizza, play games and talk about anything and everything with them.”

Drameka Ervin-Miller, 21, is another “spiritual daughter” who spends considerable time with the Crenshaws.

“They’ve already helped me a lot,” Drameka, who is nine months pregnant, said. “They’ve encouraged me to get my GED after I have my baby, and Raenell is so good to talk to.”

The Crenshaws moved to Danville from Indianapolis 13 years ago so Floyd could pastor a local church. Seven years later they decided to start their own church.

“We welcome anyone to our church, regardless of their beliefs,” Floyd said.

Over the years Floyd has attended several schools to earn his doctorate of divinity degree.

He has served as chaplain at the Danville Correctional Center for the past nine months, and also is one of four chaplains who serve McLane Midwest.

The couple met in New Orleans, where Raenell grew up. She was working as a phlebotomist in a hospital when they met, and her husband-to-be was visiting family in the area.

After they got married in 1987, the Crenshaws settled in Indianapolis, where Floyd pastored a church and Raenell worked at Methodist Hospital. Floyd had spent 3½ years in active duty with the U.S. Marines before they were married.

When they started the new church in Danville, Raenell said, “I felt the Lord called me to the ministry and wanted me to take on the role of co-pastor. Floyd and I work well together in the church, but not when we’re both cooking in the kitchen.”

“The church is all about freedom of worship,” Floyd said. “We all believe in one God, and we don’t care what denomination people are.”

Raenell has used her education and her previous job experience in Danville to network with people and to obtain grants for a variety of educational programs, including AIDS awareness, breast cancer awareness and building self-esteem.

“The Christian Center for Hope tries to be progressive by using technology to reach people no matter where they live,” Raenell said. “So we now offer our services on the Internet. We want to reach out to people in any way we can.”