The Rev. James D. Peters Jr., an icon in Denver’s civil rights community and long-time pastor at New Hope Baptist Church, will be remembered as someone who stood up for the most vulnerable people in the city.
Peters, who died Saturday at age 92, marched with Martin Luther King Jr. across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in 1965. He used that legacy to fight for civil rights in Denver when he moved to the city in 1978 to serve as New Hope’s pastor.
He became a powerful voice in the Colorado Democratic Party, never running for office himself but pushing the party to be more inclusive of Black people and offering prayers at political events. He previously chaired the Colorado Civil Rights Commission.
Peters was New Hope Baptist Church’s pastor until 2006. He came out of retirement in 2009 to serve as interim pastor until the Rev. Eugene Downing was hired in 2011, making his total tenure as the church’s leader nearly 30 years. After retirement, Peters served as pastor emeritus until his death.
While Peters knew King and marched with him a number of times, the Denver minister did “more than talk about it,” Downing said.
“He was a social justice advocate,” Downing said. “I would describe him as conscientious about the marginalized. I would describe him as a man of great faith. He would put himself at times in unpopular positions for speaking up for the marginalized.”
The Rev. Timothy Tyler, pastor at Shorter Community AME Church in Denver, got to know Peters after the 2010 death of Marvin Booker at the hands of Denver Sheriff Department deputies. Booker was a homeless street preacher who was killed inside the Downtown Detention Center when he left his seat to find his shoes and ignored deputies’ orders to sit down.
Booker was hit with nunchucks, shocked with a Taser and put in a “sleeper hold” by five deputies, and his death led to widespread protests across the city because of repeated excessive-force accusations against Denver deputies. The city paid the Booker family a $6 million settlement.
Peters knew Booker when he was preaching on the streets, Tyler said. So the minister became involved in the push to change policies at the sheriff’s department in the wake of Booker’s death.
“That went a long way in helping us get justice for Marvin Booker,” Tyler said. “He stuck with that case. Rev. Peters had those civil rights chops. He never lost that fire.”
Peters came to Colorado from Connecticut, where he served as a pastor and participated in the Civil Rights Movement. He attended the founding meeting of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he often sat with King at fundraising rallies, and he accompanied other northern pastors to rallies and marches in the South.
When Peters came to Colorado, he quickly became active in the city’s religious community, connecting with leaders of other Black churches.
That’s how he befriended Bishop Acen Phillips.
The two served about 40 years together in various leadership positions within the Baptist church and in the Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance.
Peters believed the teachings of Jesus Christ showed that Black and white people should unite to overcome racism. He also believed in non-violence.
“The politics that created racism all across the nation was one of his focuses,” Phillips said. “He served as a bridge to the Black and white communities to get us to walk together.”
Peters was a Democrat but believed the party should do better in Denver in its inclusiveness of Black people. His work was influential, leading to Denver electing two Black mayors, Wellington Webb and Michael Hancock, Phillips said.
“Dr. Peters was always willing to put himself on the front lines,” Phillips said.
State Sen. Rhonda Fields knew Peters through the Baptist church and she sought his support when she decided to run for the General Assembly after her son’s 2005 murder. Peters inspired her to keep going after Javad Marshall-Fields was killed and offered spiritual guidance, she said.
“He was what a pastor should be — caring for the people,” Fields said. “He did that for a lot of people. I’m not unique.”
Outside of the ministry and the Civil Rights Movement, Peters loved sports, especially baseball. He held Rockies and Broncos season tickets, Phillips said. The two pastors were great friends, celebrating little things in life, such as new cars and helping each other navigate personal crises.
“No matter what I was going through, Dr. James Peters was by my side,” Phillips said.
A viewing for Peters will be held at 6 p.m. Friday and his funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday. Both events will take place at New Hope Baptist Church, 3701 Colorado Blvd.
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