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By JOYANNA LOVE/ Managing Editor

Community leader Bishop Elijah J. Good, 86, of Clanton passed away on Sept. 13 after losing his battle with COVID-19.

Good had been in the hospital for three weeks.

A graveside service is planned for Sept. 19 at 11:30 a.m. at Agee Memory Gardens, 1500 Hopewell Drive

Good was influential in the community as the lead pastor of The World’s Church of the Living God in Clanton and a founding board member for the YMCA of Chilton County, West End Head Start and the Chilton County Emergency Center.

Good had also served in the U.S. Army as an Army Specialist for six years.

In February, Good was honored during the West End Neighborhood Watch Youth Division’s Celebrating Our Own Black History event.

“He loved people, and he was dedicated to ministry,” Mildred Good, Elijah Good’s daughter, said. “He reached out and helped people.”

She said he had been honored for his contributions to the city by former Clanton Mayor Basil Clark by being presented a key to the city.

Liz Huntley, Elijah Good’s adopted daughter, said he “particularly loved young people” and helping them see the value of education.

Elijah J. Good had completed advanced theological studies at the Southern Baptist College Theological Seminary. Good was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee on Jan. 27, 1934 but moved to Clanton in 1973 to plant a church.