Pastor Duroseau appointed Pastor
With a generous dose of dancing, arts and Gospel music, the Reverend Leslie Duroseau, 42, hopes to stir excitement among local youth and draw them back into the pews at the United Methodist Church of Southampton.
Freshly appointed at the Main Street church on July 1, Rev. Duroseau’s white office bookshelves were still empty last week, but her mind was already spinning with visions of welcoming new parishioners to a church that claims approximately 380 members on its rolls, but sees regular attendance limited to 30 to 40 worshippers, with the majority in the 65- to 85-year-old age group, according to the pastor.
She would like to change that.
“As a woman, I want to show that you can still be sexy and vibrant and look good, and still belong to the church. You don’t have to just be pious and dogmatic,” the former hip-hop dancer smiled. “If you can go to a basketball game and cheer on your team, why can’t you come to church and cheer on God? I think He’s called us to be creative and accountable and responsive.”
The reverend said one way she believes her new church can attract a younger demographic is by becoming more progressive technologically. Screens and projectors, for example, can be used to convey the message of a sermon.
“Young people think, ‘Why pick up a hymn book when the words are right on the screen?’ Some of them don’t even know what a hymnal is,” she said. “We’re not meeting our societal issues at a rapid enough pace.”
Also among her plans for attracting more young families and children are to get everyone’s hands clapping and feet moving through the language of sacred arts dance, which is where she discovered her relationship with the Lord. “When I was younger, I danced in the clubs, but I dance for Him now,” the pastor—who started attending church in her twenties—explained.
Rev. Duroseau, a native of the Springfield Gardens section of Queens and the Methodist church there, is a provisional elder of the Southampton church who will serve her first three years on a probationary basis, since it is her first time bearing the title of pastor, or reverend. Previously, she served as a minister.
A former social worker who once served as a patient advocate at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway, Queens, Rev. Duroseau is currently working toward a Doctor of Ministry degree with a focus on multifaith ministries from the New York Theological Seminary in Harlem, where she also received her Master of Divinity degree. She said she believes people have been scared away from the church in recent years. She views a rising interest in mysticism, spirituality, a “self-help mentality” and even young people dabbling in Buddhism and sipping tea in temples as competition, but also believes that people need the support and encouragement that comes from meeting every Sunday over hymns and Bibles—or at least screens transmitting their holy songs and messages.
In August, the church is planning a meet-the-pastor event and open house, which she is eagerly looking forward to as a way to connect with more potential parishioners.
A city girl who has lived mostly in Queens and for some time in Nassau County’s Westbury, Rev. Duroseau is charting unfamiliar rural territories on the East End.
“I said, ‘Oh my gosh, they put me in the country. I’m going to die. What do you do in the darkness?’” she laughed, about her appointment.
She noted that she doesn’t yet venture outdoors past 9 p.m. because it is inconceivably dark to her and she’s stunned by the lack of street lights and relatively narrow roads. However, she greatly enjoyed Southampton’s Fourth of July Parade and adores the local beaches.
She has yet to make it to Coopers Beach, though. She thought she was there one day, only to realize afterward it was one of Southampton Village’s 10 other beaches, whose name she did not remember. Her parents—on a visit from Queens—remarked about how lovely it was compared to Jones Beach.
Rev. Duroseau lives in the church’s parsonage on Edge of Woods Road in North Sea with her husband Eddy, 45, a contractor; their son, Jalai, 18, who is headed to Lincoln University, a historically black college in Pennsylvania; and their daughter, Jadah, 8, who will likely enroll at Southampton Elementary School.
“I want to bring that balance, that you can be who you are and love the Lord,” she gushed. “I want to bring faith, peace, love and justice.”
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