‘Stop the Madness’ founder returns to Fort Wayne, shares thoughts on City

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA21) - A pastor who had a big impact as a community activist in Fort Wayne before moving back to his native Tennessee returned to northeast Indiana this week and hailed the changes that have taken place in recent years.

Dr. Ternae Jordan told ABC21′s Jeff Neumeyer that improvements downtown made a positive impression.

He was back in the area for a training seminar at Grace Gathering Church in New Haven.

“We’re headed back from lunch (at the Landing), and some woman spins around in the street and goes, ‘hey Pastor Jordan, how are you doing?’” he said. “Fort Wayne has changed incredibly.”

Though born in Chattanooga, Jordan was influential as a Fort Wayne resident, and was one of several Black pastors who challenged police treatment of minorities, filing a formal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Justice Department.

A probe found no wrongdoing by police, but it helped produce new efforts to address the relationship between officers and minority citizens.

Jordan -- whose own son was struck by a stray bullet in 1993 -- had founded the anti-violence group “Stop the Madness” about 18 months prior to the incident.

“It said to the whole community, this could happen to anyone,” he recalled on Wednesday.

These days, Jordan pastors a church in Chattanooga that runs an early childhood center.

He continues to champion peaceful resolution of conflict.

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