The Rev. W.S. Milton and his wife, Jacqyln Milton, background, speak with visitors to Milton's church, We Win Fellowship, after the service on Sunday.

Originally posted 4:00 p.m. Aug. 27, 2024

Updated 5:07 p.m. Aug. 30, 2024 to add details about Rev. Milton’s prison term.

MOULTRIE — Just a month after its first church service, the We Win Fellowship hosted a voter registration drive Sunday afternoon.

As church members distributed plates of grilled chicken and vegetables in the background, the Rev. W.S. Milton described how current leaders of Moultrie have let down the Black community. He said he hoped by getting members of the community registered, they’ll turn out to vote for candidates who want a change.

He was particularly harsh toward the Black members of the city council who represent predominantly Black areas of town.

“They’ve thrown these people away and they’ve forgotten about them,” Milton said. “… We know the elected people can’t do everything, but they can do something.”

He cited Moultrie’s high crime rate and failure to maintain infrastructure in the Black neighborhoods. From in front of his church on West Central Avenue, he pointed to tree limbs hanging over the street that he said could fall in a storm and hurt or kill someone.

Sunday’s voter drive was conducted by EPIC — Eyvonne’s Porch In-Centive, a charity formed in 2020 to address issues in Northwest Moultrie. Carol Simpson, EPIC’s founder, said she and her partners had registered five people before the event officially began, and at least one more came up later.

Sunday was also the first of what Milton hopes will be a weekly Black Business Expo. Response to the inaugural event was slim, but the minister said he hopes his church will become a hub for Black businesspeople, where they can communicate with one another and form connections.

Future plans include a gun buyback to help get firearms off the streets.

“Every time you hear tap-tap, you’ve got to duck your head,” he said of frequent gunfire in Northwest Moultrie. “We’ve got to get that off the street.”

He said he plans to reach out to the county sheriff and Moultrie police chief to see how such a buyback would work.

The priority, Milton said, is to make Northwest and Southwest Moultrie safe, both in terms of violence and the infrastructure. He wants to help young people get jobs and help them transition out of gangs.

He thinks his background gives him an advantage.

“I’ve been to prison. I know what it’s like,” he said. “I also know redemption. Just because a man has lost his way doesn’t mean he’s lost forever.”

Milton said he’s made alliances with former gangsters who’ll talk with young people in the community about how to get away from the gangs.

“You’ve got to go to the people who used to be on their level,” he said.

Milton said he grew up in Moultrie — he remembers “playing church” on his front porch on Second Avenue. He preached his first sermon 38 years ago in Pelham.

He moved to Atlanta, where a “blunder” landed him in federal prison. He served 18 years for real estate mortgage fraud.

Milton still lives in Atlanta and commutes to his church in Moultrie each week, but he and his wife are considering moving to South Georgia as the church takes root.