NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Bishop Marcus Campbell pulled kids out of the streets and into church. Now, the community is mourning after he died from a heart condition.
A rose has been left outside The Church at Mt. Carmel in Buena Vista as a way to remember Bishop Marcus Campbell.
"He loved this community, he loved these children, he loved everybody around him," Deacon Daryl Wyde said.
Bishop Campbell died from a heart condition at 49-years-old. His friend, Juvenile Court Judge Sheila Calloway, is grief-stricken.
“It’s just heartbreaking that he gave his heart, he truly gave his heart to our community, and to our youth,” Calloway said.
A deacon at the church said he brought light to the darkness.
"The time that I’ve been here, I've seen him and his wife feed people, pay people’s light bills, and do something for them. Put a light in their face and lighten them up," Wyde said.
In 2015, Bishop Campbell shared his story with NewsChannel5.
"The root of the problem for me was my father. At 5-years-old I watched my father beat and rape my mother, and that really had done something to me psychologically," Campbell said.
From there, he joined a street gang.
"I had a life time of crime from the age I guess 13 on up until I was about 26," Campbell said.
Then, through faith, he turned down a different road. He started the Gentleman And Not Gangsters program, where Judge Calloway would send teens with gang affiliations or those under the court's supervision.
"He was kind of like the last stop for us, and if you can’t get through Bishop’s program, then you probably can’t be in our community safely," Calloway said.
Bishop Campbell was also known for feeding kids in need at summer camp.
“He didn’t wait for money from government to give these services, he saw a need in our community and he acted on it, whether or not it was the detriment to his own family. His own family didn’t have nice cars or nice houses that some people may have been able to achieve. He didn’t, because everything he that he got and every dime that he made he gave back,” Calloway said.
He gave the shirt off his back, which is something many won't forget.
"He always can take stuff and fix it, the way God want it to be fixed," Wyde said.
On July 4th there will be a candlelight vigil at 7p.m. at Monroe Park by the church. Funeral arrangements are still being finalized.
