"He made it to where you could do nothing but love him, which a lot of people in the community will tell you because he was so easy to get along with. He performed a lot of weddings, funerals and other things, so he was able to touch a lot of lives in the process. The way he lived simply made you want to be a better person."

For much of the past 50 years, Cherokee Avenue Baptist Church has been influenced either by former Pastor Clarence Hampton or his wife, Magdalene.

As a result of their charity, courtesy and good will, the church will christen its library in honor of the Hamptons during ceremonies next weekend.

The library has been a mainstay in the church for a long time, holding books and several other documents pertaining to its history. But according to current Pastor Clyde Thomas, the Hamptons are a large part of that history.

"There are a lot of good memories that people young and old can recall about the two of them," Thomas said. "They contributed to a lot of things people remember here at this church."

Pastor Hampton delivered messages from the pulpit of the church for nearly 20 years, serving first as an associate pastor before taking the reins as the church's full-time pastor. He passed away a little more than five years ago.

Thomas listened to