Civil rights activist James Carrington, founder of Orange County’s first African American church, dies at 85

In a county with a small African American population, Pastor James Carrington made a huge mark.

Carrington founded the first predominately black church in Orange County, opening Friendship Baptist Church in Fullerton in 1964 – the middle of the civil rights movement. Four years later, he and his wife Doris launched their ongoing fight for housing integration.

The charismatic preacher died of heart failure Nov. 15 at age 85. Services will be held Saturday, Dec. 1.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pa., Carrington moved to Los Angeles after serving in the U.S. Navy. Carrington commuted to his church in Fullerton for several years before looking to move his young family across the county line.

Despite the Supreme Court’s 1967 ruling to stop housing discrimination, landlords found excuses not to rent to his family, Carrington told the Orange County Register in 2010. “We took it on ourselves,” he said, “to find out what was going on and how people were being treated.”

He and his wife partnered with a white couple to investigate. Responding to ads listing apartments for rent, the Carringtons were routinely turned down while their counterparts swiftly fielded offers.

“We went to the city of Fullerton and told them, ‘This is what’s happening to our people. This is real,’” Carrington said.

He kept up his activism by helping African American college students secure housing near Cal State Fullerton.

In its humble beginnings, the 22-member Friendship Baptist Church held services in a congregant’s house. It soon would grow to attract hundreds and then thousands of visitors from throughout Southern California. After bouncing among seven Fullerton locations, the church finally built a permanent home in Yorba Linda in 1987.

Today, Friendship Baptist has about 2,400 members, said Kenneth Curry, who was named pastor after Carrington’s retirement in 2012.

As a child, Curry attended Friendship Baptist’s sister church, True Vine Missionary Baptist in Lynwood.

“We sometimes would hold services together, so I have looked up to Pastor Carrington as an example of ministry for most of my life,” Curry said. “He was a stirring preacher who loved God’s people. He connected to people young and old.”

Carrington counted among his friends Rosa Parks – who in 1955 sparked a major civil rights battle when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in Alabama. Although she was Methodist, Parks attended Friendship’s services in the 1990s when she spent winters with her godson in Orange County.

Carrington is survived by his wife of 58 years, two children, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

A public viewing will be held Friday, Nov. 30 from 3 to 7 p.m. followed by a Celebration Service from 7 to 8 p.m. at Friendship Baptist Church, 17145 Bastanchury Road, Yorba Linda; a second public viewing will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 1, with a service at 11 a.m., also at the church. Internment will take place at 11 a.m. Monday, Dec. 3, at Inglewood Park Cemetery, 3801 Manchester Blvd., Inglewood. For more information, go to wearefriendship.church.