When Rebecca Mitchell was 6 years old sitting in the pews of Franklin African Methodist Episcopal Church in Niles, she never thought that some 70 years later she would be the one behind the pulpit.
But after being appointed the pastor this month, the pulpit is hers.
The daughter of Robert and Beatrice Singer, she grew up the youngest of 12 on the family dairy farm on Creek Road in Niles. Some of her fond memories are of bottling milk and attending Sunday school at Franklin A.M.E. Church.
She left home right after high school in 1956, but a series of events brought her back to Niles and Franklin A.M.E.
“I graduated one night; I got married the next,” Mitchell said.
Her husband was in the Marines and were stationed in California for two years.
After she divorced her husband 10 years later, Mitchell was working for Clark Equipment Co. in Buchanan when she “heard the call” to ministry.
“I believe God was speaking to me,” she said. “It was just like I was talking to you and he said, ‘Carry the Word.’”

She questioned whether she should pursue the ministry because she is a woman.
“But he (God) said, ‘If I send you, you don’t have to worry about it,’” Mitchell said.
The divine directive led her to Detroit, where she completed five years of A.M.E. classes. After ordination, she spent time min- istering in Benton Harbor, Calvin Center and Three Rivers.
She spent 14 years pastoring at Grant A.M.E. in Three Rivers before retiring from the ministry.
But when the opportunity to pastor her childhood church arose, she jumped on it.
She took over as interim pastor in November after ex-minister Jared Graves was facing serious criminal charges. Graves later took his own life while awaiting a court date.
But the 25 congregants of Franklin A.M.E. are happy to welcome Mitchell home.
While things have changed at the church since Mitchell was a child, many of the same families are still in the congregation.
More importantly, Mitchell believes God remains the same.

“The word doesn’t change. But people aren’t understanding that God wants their attention,” she said. “They may come to church and they may sit in church, but they don’t think they need the Lord, because they think they’ve got it all.”
God was the message then and that’s the message now.