New Kensington minister remembered for his concern for people

The Rev. Lovie Scott is being remembered as a man who cared about and inspired people and who worked to help them get jobs.

Pastor Lovie L. Scott Jr., of New Kensington, died Friday, May 8, 2020. He was 74. His cause of death was not disclosed.

Kevin Bode met Scott in 2015 when Bode and his wife starting planning to open the Knead Community Cafe in New Kensington. Scott was on the board of directors of the cafe, a “pay-what-you-can” restaurant on Barnes Street. Bode and Scott became good friends over the five or six years they knew each other.

“He just really cared for people here,” Bode said. “He was always concerned about people not having jobs. We were always talking about what we could do to help people get more employment, especially the youths. It really hurt him to see the poverty in the community and to see people without jobs.”

Scott, with his big smile, would greet people coming to the cafe for events, Bode said.

“He’s well respected in the community. He was a big help to us in terms of reaching out to the minority population in the community,” Bode said. “He helped us open up doors in the community we would not be able to open without him.”

“I don’t think he understood how much of an impact he was making with this organization,” he said. “It’s going to be a very difficult loss for this community.”

New Kensington Mayor Tom Guzzo agreed.

“He cared deeply about everyone he met, which is such a rare and beautiful trait. He was always there to help make our city better, and he had a real love for New Kensington,” Guzzo said. “He brought so much joy to every event that he attended and really captivated his audience. There was strength and love in his presence that I’m sure will be felt long after his untimely passing.”

Scott was born in Brackenridge and was a 1963 graduate of Har-Brack High School in Natrona Heights, Harrison.

He founded World Overcomers Ministry in New Kensington and had been its pastor for more than 20 years. Jerry Jefferson, 38, of Arnold became Scott’s youth pastor after meeting him at the church in 2002.

“I am the man that I am because of him,” Jefferson said. “He was very much a father figure in my life. He was my spiritual ‘Pops.’

“He always wanted to push me up,” Jefferson said. “In no way did he ever want to curb anybody’s rise. His thing was to elevate those that were around him.”

He recalled that Scott drove to a Pittsburgh hospital at 3 a.m. in the morning to pick himself and his wife up after she had gone into false labor and didn’t have a ride home.

World Overcomers has about 60 active members. Jefferson said Scott’s wife, Joan A. Scott, told him that closing is not an option.

“The vision didn’t die with the man,” Jefferson said. “The motto of our church is to preach the gospel, teach the word and reach the people. That doesn’t stop because our pastor left. That’s what he trained us to do. It’s our job to continue.”

In addition to his wife, Scott is survived by five children, Eric Scott of Bethesda, Md., Maria DeGennaro and Anthony Scott, both of Chesapeake Beach, Md., Kelly Okenna of Washington, D.C., and Theresa Morgan of New Kensington; six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Services will be streamed live on the World Overcomers Facebook page at 11 a.m. Friday, May 15. Burial will be private at Union Cemetery in Arnold.

Ross G. Walker Funeral Home, New Kensington, is handling arrangements.