Paying tribute to the community that helped launch him on a career in space and beyond, former NASA astronaut Winston Scott returned to Coconut Grove on Sunday to celebrate the 130th anniversary of South Florida’s oldest black church.
An astronaut who has flown around the world hundreds of times came home to Coconut Grove on Sunday to pay tribute to the historic house of worship where he first learned about the heavens.
“I was born and raised in this church,” said U.S. Navy Captain and former NASA astronaut Winston E. Scott as he stood on the steps of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, celebrating the 130th anniversary of its founding in 1895 by some of the original Bahamian settlers of the West Grove. It is recognized as the first Black church on the South Florida mainland.
“This church taught us so many things: good living, civil living, a sense of accomplishment, a sense of possibilities,” said Scott.
Scott, 75, has made the most of his possibilities. After graduating from Coral Gables High School, he went on to study music at Florida State University. He still plays trumpet, and might have made music a career. But engineering grabbed his attention, he said, and that led him to become a Navy pilot and then an astronaut.
Scott flew two missions, in 1996 and 1997, and performed three space walks, including one that lasted over seven hours and involved the manual capture of a satellite.
Dressed in his blue flight suit, Scott detailed for a rapt audience his educational and professional career in a talk illustrated by slides projected on two screens flanking the altar. He also took questions, including one that he says he and other astronauts always get: How do you go to the bathroom in space? “Very carefully,” he answered. He then went on to explain the vacuum system that collects waste in a zero-gravity spaceship.
During his 24 days in space, Scott said, he saw the beauty and fragility of the planet on which we live, and came to realize that “some of the things we get worked up over are so insignificant. If our world leaders, maybe [could] go up there with each other, and be left up there for a while…perhaps they would come back and put those differences aside,” he said.
The veteran fighter jet pilot was introduced by childhood friend Twyman Bentley, who called Scott “our very own Top Gun Maverick.”
Of himself Scott said, “I’m just a dude from the hood.” But he had two parents who were active in the church – his father a deacon, his mother the church pianist – and a drive to succeed. “God had a plan for me. To do some of the things I have done has to be a blessing from God,” he said.
Scott said his visit marked the first time he has been back in his home church in more than 50 years. He noted some differences in the once-segregated community he grew up in, now in the throes of gentrification. “I see the Grove changing a lot,” he said. “We must preserve our history. But change doesn’t bother me. The Black community [here] is shrinking, but it’s spreading out. We need… to diversify.”
With Scott in the pulpit, the Rev. Lance B. Bailey, Sr., took the day off from preaching. “This church has nurtured talent and touched the heavens,” he said.
Scott now works at the Kennedy Space Center as director of operational excellence. He and his wife Marilyn live in nearby Melbourne, FL.
The astronaut’s appearance is part of a month-long anniversary celebration of the church, at 3515 S. Douglas Rd., that is being chaired by Carolyn Donaldson. She also attended Macedonia Missionary as a child before going on to a professional business career that took her around the world – by plane.
“The church really set the stage for me and so many others, like Capt. Scott, who went on to have successful careers,” says Donaldson, who also serves as volunteer finance officer for the church. “It offered spiritual guidance and the example of excellence. It set a standard.”
The celebration of the church’s history continues Oct. 11 with a brunch at Christ Episcopal Church, 3481 Hibiscus St. (For tickets and information, call Carolyn Donaldson at 305-519-7100.) The festivities end with a close-out service set for 11 a.m. Oct. 26 featuring guest preacher the Rev. Walter T. Richardson.
Donaldson said the church has also set up a GoFundMe account with the goal of raising $50,000 for needed repairs to the building, including replacement of a creaky elevator.
