The Pulse of Entertainment - August 15, 2025

The Pulse of Entertainment: Grammy Winning Hezekiah Walker Honored with Key to New York City, the Hezekiah Walker Center for Gospel Music and Walk of Fame at Virginia Union University, and a 10-story/236-Unit Housing Complex

by Dr. Eunice Moseley

(August 15, 2025) - "He said he wanted to give me a key to the city," said two-time Grammy winning Gospel legend Hezekiah Walker when I asked how he learned that he was going to be honored with a key to the city of New York. "I was actually at home when I got a call from the Mayor's Office. I thought it was about a show, they put on shows around the city, so I thought he wanted me to do a show."

"I think this has only happened to Elvis Presley and Barbra Streisand," he said excitedly. "All these major people. I am like, ‘are you serious?' He (Mayor Eric Adams) said, Yes!' and I became the only Gospel artist to get a key to New York City."

As we talked about his many accolades Bishop Hezekiah Walker said sincerely, "When it comes to your honor coming from your home folks... (it means more)."

That is not the only recent honor God rained down on Hezekiah for his contribution not only to the Word of God, but the genre of Gospel music. Virginia Union University built the Hezekiah Walker Center for Gospel Music. The Virginia university, an historically black university (HBCU), also made him the first inductee into the Virginia Union University's Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

"Virginia Union reached out to me six years ago...about the Hezekiah Walker Center for Gospel Music," Walker informed me. "It's a HBCU and we started talking about Gospel music and doing something for Gospel artists. Gospel (music) came from black people, that's our culture. They reached out to the Thomas Dorsey Foundation to do a Gospel Hall of Fame, and they said they wanted the first one to be Hezekiah Walker."

But that is not all the blessings this Billboard Chart-topping honoree (Gospel Song of the Decade for single "Every Praise") has going on, he just finished construction on a 10-story/236-unit housing complex in the community of East New York in Brooklyn, his hometown.

"It's up, 10 floors. Applications are being accepted in November...making decision in January 2026," Hezekiah explained when I asked about the progress of the housing complex. "I had this property for 15 years and I wanted to build something on it...maybe a bigger church and at the last minute the Lord said, ‘You need to build something for the community.' That was during Covid when the Lord came and spoke to me. That same week the Mayor's Office called and said they had a program to build affordable housing (and wanted him to partner with them)."

As they say, "the rest is history." Hezekiah Walker, with the help of New York City, just completed construction on a 10-story/236-unit affordable housing complex for the community where he lives. Per the command of God.

Hezekiah Walker in 1993 launched the Love Fellowship Tabernacle Churches in Brooklyn, New York and Bensalem, Philadelphia. Initially he had eight members, and by 1996 his eight members had grown to 1000. He had so many members he had to relocate to a bigger building. Hezekiah was ordained by Bishop Kenneth H. Moales, Sr in 2008 at the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith. In 2010 he became Presiding Bishop at the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the U.S. and Africa when Bishop Moales passed away. In 2021 with Pastor Frank Santora the Faith Church in Connecticut was launched along with Every Tribe Church in Times Square, New York.

Hezekiah Walker is best known for his Hezekiah Walker & The Love Fellowship Crusade Choir of which Aaron Hall (R&B group Guy) was a member. Walker and his choirs released projects on Verity Records, RCA Inspiration and Entertainment One Music. In 2001 his Hezekiah Walker LFT Church Choir, a more youthful Hip-Hop group of vocalists than the Love Fellowship Crusade Choir, was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Hezekiah won two Grammy Awards - in 1994 ("Live in Atlanta at Morehouse" with the Love Fellowship Crusade Choir) and in 2001 ("Love is Live!" with the LFT Church Choir).

Hezekiah Walker has released 15 albums of which his greatest hit "Every Praise" was amongst. That single spent 102 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot Gospel Songs Chart and topped the Gospel Airplay Chart for 29 consecutive weeks. In 2019 the single "Every Praise" was named by Billboard as the Gospel Song of the Decade. In 2013 Walker formed his Hezekiah Walker Community Development Corporation to create resources to empower the community in East New York and its biggest project, the 10-story/236-unit affordable housing complex, is an example of his commitment to the community where he lives. www.LoveFellowship.com

SYNDICATED COLUMN: Dr. Eunice Moseley has an estimated weekly readership of over one million with The Pulse of Entertainment. She is also a Business Management/Public Relations Strategist and Consultant at Freelance Associates and is Promotions Director (at-large) for The Baltimore Times. www.ThePulseofEntertainment.com. EVENTS: "Uplifting Minds II" Entertainment Conference (ULMII), founded by Eunice in 1999, is into its 26th year. Next events are coming to Baltimore via Zoom Saturday April 19, 2025, presented by Security Square Mall and The Baltimore Times, and Los Angeles via Zoom Saturday, November 8, 2025. The ULMII event is a free entertainment conference offering a Professional Panel Q&A Session, a Professional Talent Showcase and National Talent Competition (vocal, songwriting, dance and acting) where aspiring artists have a chance to receive over $20,000 valued in prizes/product/services. Log onto www.UpliftingMinds2.com RSVP for Zoom Access at EventBrite.com or email info@thepulseofentertainment.com.