He earned a master\u2019s degree from Survine Theological College in Colorado and was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Louisiana Baptist University, according to the church\u2019s website<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n While in his early 20s, he became pastor of Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Texarkana in 1985 and led Olivet Baptist Church in Houston three years later.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 1995 Spears moved back to his hometown and became pastor of what was then called First Saint John Missionary Baptist Church. In 2000, the church joined the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship within the Christian faith, and Spears was consecrated as bishop five years later, according to the church\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n The church was renamed First Saint John Cathedral in 2012.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Pulse\u2019 on Fort Worth civic engagement<\/p>\n When Spears moved back to Fort Worth, \u201che wanted to have his finger on the pulse\u201d of the city, his son said.\u00a0<\/p>\n One way he did that was through mobilizing civic engagement and voter education in the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n Spears founded the Tarrant County Democratic Party\u2019s Black Voter Impact Committee in 2016, county chair Allison Campolo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n He was known for inviting local, statewide and national candidates and elected officials to his congregation to meet the community. In 2020, Spears hosted then-Sen. Kamala Harris<\/a> during her visit to Fort Worth ahead of the presidential election.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Spears was involved in bringing civic leaders to his congregation, interpersonal moments of connecting with people about voter education sticks out to Campolo the most, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe was there for the commitment and connection, even on that personal level, however much time it took, how many conversations it took,\u201d Campolo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The party plans to vote on a resolution to memorialize Spears, Campolo added.\u00a0<\/p>\n Spears was passionate about engaging younger generations in Fort Worth local government, said Whitnee Boyd who got to know him through his visits to her church, Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church.\u00a0<\/p>\n She remembers working with Spears and others to bring information sessions to the church on voter registration and to help younger generations understand the voting process, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you think about just the Black community and just, historically, what the Black church has been specifically to the voter movement \u2014 Bishop never lost that. He still wanted to use that platform of ensuring that people were educated on the things that matter in the community,\u201d Boyd said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Spears had a way of creating a space \u201cwhere people who normally wouldn\u2019t sit together somehow found themselves breaking bread,\u201d said Ebony Jones, who grew up in Fort Worth and knew Spears through her stepfather who was also a religious leader.<\/p>\n Jones got to know Spears better after she graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington and started working for Teach For America. She turned to Spears as a way to reconnect with community organizers in the city, she said.<\/p>\n Jones collaborated with Spears on various civic engagement events. One of the many things Jones said she admired about Spears was how he connected neighborhoods and people \u201cacross lines of difference.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe was a bridge in a city that has always needed one,\u201d Jones said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Spears was known for bringing residents together, even if they had different political viewpoints or perspectives, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Parker got to know Spears when she was chief of staff to former Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price. She and Spears\u2019 relationship got closer after she became mayor, Parker said.\u00a0<\/p>\n During difficult times in Fort Worth history \u2014 such as when Jacqueline Craig, a Black Fort Worth mother and her daughters were controversially arrested<\/a> in 2016 and when Atatiana Jefferson was shot and killed by a Fort Worth police officer inside her home<\/a> \u2014 Spears was at the center of being a problem solver and embodying a \u201cpersistence of calm and focus for the community,\u201d Parker said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBishop Spears was one of those people who knew the significance of the event, but also wanted to see Fort Worth healed,\u201d the mayor said. \u201cAnd so he was just that constant sort of father figure.\u201d<\/p>\n A passion for southeast Fort Worth\u00a0<\/p>\n Spears had a passion for the southeast side of Fort Worth and wanted to \u201csee it be all that it could be,\u201d his son Kenneth said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Spears led prayer walks in the early 2010s down East Berry Street and into the Stop Six neighborhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n It was a heightened time on the southeast side in terms of redevelopment, said Kelly Allen Gray, former District 8 City Council member and fellow Polytechnic High alum.<\/p>\n City and community leaders have long had a vision to improve housing, businesses, community services and schools in Fort Worth\u2019s Historic Southside. Some say there have been few results<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHis prayer was for people to really open their eyes, open their hearts, and to understand that there is value in southeast Fort Worth,\u201d Gray said.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2013, the YMCA of Metropolitan Fort Worth wanted to consolidate<\/a> its McDonald and Miller Avenue branches and open a new Y in Renaissance Square off East Berry Street. A new Y was part of the city and community leaders\u2019 vision for a health care hub in the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n To make it work, the Y wanted to sell its McDonald branch to a multifamily developer and use the proceeds to buy the Renaissance site.\u00a0<\/p>\n While some members in the community were in favor of the land swap<\/a>, Spears and his congregation were opposed.\u00a0<\/p>\n Having a multifamily development was \u201cnot at the forefront of what everyone wanted on that hill,\u201d Gray recalled.\u00a0<\/p>\n Spears, the congregation and Gray and neighboring residents \u201cbanded together to push back on a development that wanted to come there,\u201d Gray said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt was never about the YMCA. It was about that particular property and what we wanted to see there, and what would thrive there,\u201d Gray said.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2014 the Y launched a capital campaign<\/a> to raise money for a new southeast Fort Worth facility. The facility is currently located off Moresby Street.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tony Shuman, who served as the YMCA\u2019s CEO at the time, recalled the Y partnering with Spears\u2019 church and utilizing the McDonald building on Sundays or in the evenings.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cLosing that facility, I think, disappointed him some,\u201d Shuman said. \u201cLike I told him, I completely understand that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Ultimately, Spears was a \u201cFort Worth guy,\u201d Shuman said. He wanted to ensure the residents in southeast Fort Worth \u201cgot the same level of commitment from our government that folks in southwest Fort Worth got.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018He put his stamp\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n Some may remember Spears as a spiritual adviser. Others may know him as a community leader. Kenneth Spears will remember him as dad.\u00a0<\/p>\n His father \u201cnever knew a stranger,\u201d he said. He was the dad who taught Kenneth Spears and his brother the importance of treating people how you want to be treated.\u00a0<\/p>\n He was the dad who wanted to make an impact in Fort Worth.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe wanted to make sure that he put his stamp on the city, and I would say he\u2019s done a job well done in that,\u201d his son said.\u00a0<\/p>\n A twilight service for Spears is scheduled at 7 p.m. on Dec. 4 at First Saint John Cathedral, according to the church\u2019s Facebook<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n A celebration of life is scheduled at 11 a.m. Dec. 5 at Travis Avenue Baptist Church.\u00a0<\/p>\n Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Disclosure: Whitnee Boyd and Ebony Jones are on Fort Worth Report\u2019s Reader Advisory Council. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n Republish This Story<\/p>\n
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