Imagine as a child that you wanted to be like the lil’ drummer boy and had no drums or a teacher. As young as he was, he came upon an idea, “I will teach myself”. This 3 year old, Andre S. Hickman found several shoe boxes and two hair combs of his mother’s and began teaching himself how to play drums. It became ‘”me and my drums.” It was the beginning of him learning to play many instruments including the keyboard, tuba, lead guitar, bass guitar and singing.
Andre Hickman was born to become a musician and his parents, Louis George Hickman, Jr. and Mae Hickman knew it and encouraged it. He is a graduate of Louisville High School. He received a certificate in metal trading from East Central Community College. He married to Rena Hickman on his birthday in 2003, and was blessed with three children: A. J., Ariana, and Rehyana.
He became an Alternative School Teacher in the Louisville Municipal School District and later attended New Foundation Theological Seminary where he received the Bachelor of Arts in Theology Degree in 2019. Prior to attending the seminary, he had been called to the ministry in 2004 and became pastor of the Greenfield Missionary Baptist Church in Philadelphia until his death.
Andre’s love for music led him to joining the high school band playing the tuba. He because a percussionist for Mount Pleasant No. 1 Baptist Church and Mt. Bell Baptist Church. He began ministering through music as he accompanied his father. He became a member of the Mighty Disciples, a local gospel group for many years until he started his own quartet group. Andre eventually used his music and his dedication to sharing his love for Christ to writing a book about the responsibility of the music ministry in the church –The Heartbeat of Heaven. This book of only 73 pages has been an inspiration to many including this writer. It is all about his gift of music and how to understand, accept and nourish ones gift. He believed that God choose him for the gift of music. He learned to not let the elder musicians discourage him. As a youth, he took spiritual responsibility for his music ministry. When singing or playing an instrument, he stated in his book that, “You should leave an impact on people through the spirit of God. They should be impacted through your love for God and the people of God. People should want to leave your presence wanting to love like God and be holy like God.”
Andre passed from this earth when he was 38 years old – a very young man who left an impact on people as a minister, musician, son, husband, father, teacher, friend, coworker that many people don’t leave in a lifetime. He was guided in the ministry by his pastor, Dr. Anthony McIntosh and in music by his father and his friend Chawan Jernigan. He stated in his book, “…I took time to learn lead guitar under the great Chawan Jernigan as a break from playing keys, and he also helped me fine tune my bass playing as well. This guy pushed me and encouraged me. He didn’t down talk me or make me feel as if I was incompetent. He was hard on me because he knew there was something in me that needed to come out. The more Dr. McIntosh preached on faithfulness to God, the more I would hunger for a deeper passion to do what God had chosen me to do.” According to his obituary, he served diligently in the spirit of excellence as an associate minister as well as minister of music and an armor bearer with Dr. McIntosh for 15 years.
