May 2005 Feature Article
45th Bishop of the CME Church Oree Broomfield, Sr. is Remembered in Atlanta, GA, Service
Oree Broomfield, Sr., was born May 19th, 1927 in Simpson County, near Magee, Mississippi, to Freddie Manson Broomfield and Hettie Broomfield Smith. He was the fifth of eight children born to this union.
He graduated from the Smith County Training School, after having served a tour of duty in the United States Navy from which he was honorably discharged in 1946. He received the Bachelor of Arts Degree from Mississippi Industrial College, Holly Springs, Mississippi; the Bachelor of Divinity from Gammon Theological Seminary (now a part of ITC); and the Doctor of Ministry Degree from Phillips University, Enid, Oklahoma. He was awarded the honorary Doctor of from Mississippi Industrial College, Holly Springs, MS and the Doctor of Humane Letters from Lane College, Jackson, Tennessee.
After finishing seminary in 1957, he was joined in matrimony to the former Wylene Annesley Parham. At an early age he joined in the Ducksworth Chapel CME Church, Taylorsville, Mississippi. There lie served as superintendent of Sunday school, steward, class leader, and local preacher. He answered the call to the ministry in 1950 and was later ordained elder by Bishop Luther Stewart. His first appointment was the Hebron Chapel Church in Holly Springs, Mississippi. This initial pastorate was followed by a tenure of service in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church at Rock of Ages, Augusta, Georgia; the Emmanuel Chapel and New Harmony Circuit, West Point, Georgia; Anderson Chapel, Holly Springs, Mississippi; St. John, Washington, DC; Greater Cleaves Memorial, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Cedar Crest Cathedral where he was serving when he was elected 45th bishop of the CME Church in Memphis, Tennessee in 1982. As a bishop he was first assigned to serve in West Africa-Nigeria, Ghana, and Monrovia. He served that region from May to October of 1982. Upon the death of Bishop Cummings, he was called to serve in the United States in the Seventh Episcopal District where he served from 1982 until his retirement in 1998. In 1994, the Seventh Episcopal District expanded to include Haiti, and he served as Bishop of that region as well.
In addition to his ministry as pastor, he also served as teacher of social studies at the Water Valley High School in Water, Mississippi, while he was pastoring in Holly Springs.
After that tenure he served for five years as College Chaplain and Professor of Religion and Philosophy at MI College; in Dallas, Texas, he served as Adjunct Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Bishop College.
Bishop Broomfield was always involved in community activities in the places where he served as minister. He was involved in the Civil Rights Movement of the Sixties, sometimes as leader, but most often as a behind-the-scenes worker and usually not in the spotlight.
In Holly Springs, Mississippi, he was president of the Voters League, an organization formed to help African Americans to register to vote. He spent much time holding training sessions for passing the test on the interpretation of some portion of the Constitution, a requirement in Mississippi at that time for African Americans to register to vote. He also volunteered to take persons to the polls on Election Day (for those who lead passed the test and were fearful to exercise their right to vote). Also, while he served in Holly Springs, he became acquainted with Fannie Lou Hamer of Rueville, Mississippi, and James Meredith who was the first African American to enroll in the University of Mississippi in Oxford. Mrs. Hamer, along with others, spent several nights in the home (parsonage) of the then-Reverend Broomfield because there were no accommodations in Oxford- some thirty miles away-for them during a Civil Rights hearing. Also James Meredith visited in Rev. Broomfield’s home and spoke at a Civil Rights meeting field at the church, a daring and dangerous thing to do at that time for Broomfield and the church.
After moving to Washington, DC, he continued to be involved and joined Bishop Bunton in some of the Civil Rights activities. He traveled to Selma, Alabama, to participate in the march to Montgomery. He offered St. John Church to feed hundreds of Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party members when they came to Washington.
In Oklahoma City, he was president of the local chapter of the NAACP and was delegate to one or more conventions. He was arrested for demonstrating with the garbage workers for higher wages. After he was elected bishop and was living in Washington, DC, he demonstrated with others to call for the end to apartheid in South Africa.
He was known and loved as a dedicated pastor. Bishop C. D. Coleman called him a “shepherd pastor.” He was always available to minister to the needs of members of the church where he pastored, especially the elderly who were sick and shut-in. No time of day or night was too late for him to answer the telephone to heed the call of someone in need, sometimes just to be with the family of someone making a transition from this life.
He would also help non-members who would often come to the church seeking help to get food or to pay the rent or for some other pressing need. He always had some to investigate the needs, and the church provided for those needs if possible. Many times he would use his personal money to help a relative, friend, or even a stranger.
Bishop Broomfield was also interested in helping young people to get as much education as possible. He often helped to get them enrolled in college. Several students at one time or another lived in his home (parsonage) rent free so they could attend MI College. He also encouraged pastors to attend seminary and would help them with finances if necessary. Through the H. C. Bunton Scholarship Fund, he provided scholarships to all ministers in the Seventh Episcopal District who were enrolled in seminary. Although he was born in a state sweltering from the heat of injustice, “he never forgot his roots and was always delighted to tell people where he was from. He bonded with people from Mississippi. He requested that he be laid to rest in his beloved Mississippi.
Bishop Broomfield always enjoyed being with people, chatting with students, members, preachers, and even strangers. Whenever he met someone he did not know, he never ended the conversation without finding out where they were from and what church-if any-with which they were affiliated. He loved to laugh and “joke” with members and ministers. Being named Man of the Year by Oklahoma City Set Club and Minister of the Year by the Dallas Cosmeticians Club are among the numerous honors he received as minister and bishop. In addition, he received numerous citations and proclamations from mayors of cities around the country, as well as numerous honors for dedicated service and leadership. For a time he was an active member of the NAACP and the National Council of Churches. In college he was an active member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. He was also a 33-Degree Mason.
In 1998 he took an early retirement as bishop because of failing health. He spent his retirement in Decatur, GA, with his wife, a native of Durand, GA. He attended Shy Temple CME Church regularly until his failing health prevented him.
He was always “at home” in church. God called him to his eternal home Sunday, April 10, 2005, a peaceful and sunny spring morning.
Preceding him in death were his parents, Freddie Manson Broomfield and Hettie Broomfield Smith; four brothers- Arnie Broomfield, Dennis Ray Broomfield, Sidney Earl Broomfield, J. T. Broomfield, and one sister, Laura Mae Craft.
He leaves to cherish his memory, his wife of 47 years, Mrs. Wylene Annesly Parham Broomfield; three children- Rev. Oree Broomfield II (Bridget Ladell) of Denver, Colorado, Leonardo Bernard Broomfield of Decatur, GA, and Telesia Evon Broomfield Davis (Devans Leon) of Irmo, South Carolina; two grandchildren- Oree Broomfield III and Maya Ladell Broomfield of Denver, Colorado; one brother, Joe B. Broomfield of Chicago, Illinois; one sister, Joyce Robinson of Chicago, Illinois; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.