On Bev Cosby’s 100th Birthday

BEVERLY ROY “BEV” COSBY

Beverly Roy “Bev” Cosby was born in Lynchburg, Virginia on January 28, 1926 and died on January 21, 2002, which was, fittingly, the day on which the Commonwealth honored the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Bev attended Lynchburg College, served in the United States Navy during World War II, then obtained a Bachelor’s Degree from American University.  He worked in his father’s insurance company before earning a Bachelor of Divinity Degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he was ordained to the ministry at Riverside Church.

In 1950, Bev and his brothers and two close friends founded the “Lynchburg Christian Fellowship” ministry on property acquired from Bev’s father and located in what was then Bedford County, Virginia. That organization changed its name to Lynchburg Covenant Fellowship (LCF) in 1974, to demonstrate greater inclusivity.

Bev was soft-spoken and shy, but had a powerful and lasting impact on Lynchburg. On October 4, 1954, he began the Church of The Covenant, an ecumenical church aligned with the Congregational branch of the United Christian Church, Disciples of Christ. Bev chose that alliance because it authorized inter-racial worship. Bev and his new church members’ viewpoints contrasted with Lynchburg’s highly conservative and segregated traditions and attitudes.  Bev advocated for social and racial inclusivity, believing that “everyone has a gift” and that individuals and communities’ benefit by identifying and promoting personal “gifts” and recognizing the “specialness of difference.”  Bev later expressed "the need for bridging the gap between religion and life, between church and business, between the secular and the sacred," and few would doubt that Bev Cosby bridged that gap. Bev and his church were publicly criticized for his quiet campaign for racial justice, but his opponents were practically defenseless, for he was neither an outsider, a rabble-rouser, nor an extremist; he was, after all, one of them.

A foremost mission of LCF was to establish an outdoor summer day camp for children. Now known as Camp Kum-Ba-Yah Nature Center, that camp and Bev’s church became highly controversial in July 1961, when Lynchburg’s city leaders sought to prevent racial integration of public facilities by closing all city swimming pools. In response, Bev promptly opened the Camp’s pools to Afro-Americans.  

In March, 1962, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. visited Bev’s “Lodge of The Fishermen” coffeehouse, in recognition and appreciation of Bev’s ministries. The Lodge of The Fishermen was one of only two dining facilities in Lynchburg where persons of different races could dine together.  

LCF was instrumental in establishing low-income housing by purchasing and renovating: the house at 412 Madison Street, the old Moose Lodge at 700 Federal Street, the old Lynchburg High School on Park Avenue, the Frank Roane School, the Joseph Nichols Tavern, and constructing the Shalom Apartments.    

Bev’s quiet, un-assuming and casual air, coupled with his hands-on approach, established programs that positively impacted a multitude of people throughout Lynchburg and beyond.  Today, few programs exist for Lynchburg's poor, homeless, disabled, or disadvantaged that were not initiated by Bev Cosby, who by remaining in the background and allowing others to take credit for his initiatives, multiplied his effectiveness.  He promoted the establishment of vital Lynchburg entities, such as Lynchburg Restoration and Housing Program, Miriam's House, the Haven, Elizabeth’s Early Learning Center, The Wood Ministry, The Gateway, Interfaith Outreach (Kum-Ba-Yah Association), The Lodge of the Fishermen, New Land Jobs, an AID’s hospice home, and ARC of The Blue Ridge.

Bev’s avoidance of personal attention or public praise even led him to decline an invitation to attend a Lynchburg City Council session wherein he was awarded the “Mayor’s Award of Excellence” for his outstanding service to that city.  Now, there is also a Bev Cosby memorial fund to continue his work. 

After his death, a joint resolution of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s House of Delegates and Senate concurring, expressed the esteem in which Bev was held by the members of the General Assembly and the people of Lynchburg.  

John Randolph “Randy” Nelson

Lynchburg, Virginia