Perry Culver of Talladega doesn’t have long, pink ears or a quivering nose. But, just like the Energizer™ bunny, he keeps going and going and going.
At 93, Culver is still busy doing the Lord’s work. While the bunny bangs his drum incessantly, you won’t hear Culver blowing his own horn about what he has done.
“He’s just a godly man,” said Eddie Cole, pastor of Southside Baptist Church, Talladega. “I’ve never met anyone like him.”
Cole described Culver as a quiet person and a great encourager.
He said James 3:17 best describes Culver: “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”
“That’s him,” Cole said. “He is kind of the embodiment of that verse. … He’s a great role model.”
Daughter Evelyn Lloyd of Talladega said her father always reminded her and her two siblings — Thomas E. Culver of Birmingham and Virginia McGough of Prattville — not to boast of themselves either.
His lesson to his children came from Proverbs 27:2: “Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.”
Culver served in the Army Infantry during World War II and was wounded during service in Germany. Though he does not like to talk about it, Culver spent a year in the hospital and has lived with his injury ever since.
Following the war, Culver and his wife, Claudia, became charter members of Prattmont Baptist Church, Prattville. They later moved to Sylacauga, where they had purchased a business. He and his wife operated Culver’s Grocery and were involved in work at Westview Baptist Church.
Culver began to feel led to the ministry, but was resistent because he had a home and a business.
One day while cutting meat at his store, Culver recalls he told the Lord he couldn’t surrender to the ministry unless his obligations with the store and home were taken care of.
Within a week, someone came along to purchase the business, Culver said. Then, the couple’s home sold.
A clear sign
“There wasn’t any question that the Lord was in on that,” said Culver, who was 53 when he surrendered to the call of God.
He and his wife moved to Mississippi, where Culver attended Clarke College. Then, he went to New Orleans Seminary. While in school, Culver served as pastor of Poplar Baptist, Newton County, Miss.; Dixon Baptist, Neshoba County, Miss., and New Harmony Baptist, Philadelphia, Miss.
After that, he was called to Chesbrough Baptist, Tangipahoa, La., and to Strong Hope Baptist, Hazlehurst, Miss.
There, he led the congregation in a project to construct a new church building — an event Culver characterizes as one of the highlights of his ministry. He said the most significant aspect of his ministry, though, was seeing many people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
After Strong Hope, he was called to Ellard Baptist, Bruce, Miss., a pastorate from which he retired in 1975 and moved to Talladega.
He and his wife joined First Baptist, Talladega. Then, a new church — Fair Park Baptist — began to organize in Talladega, and Culver was named the first pastor.
In 1979, he was called to Southside Baptist, Talladega, as associate minister. He retired from that position in the early 1980s.
Until her death in 1994, Culver’s wife was by his side — not only as a helpmate, but also a fellow servant. She passed away after the couple had celebrated 67 years of marriage.
Even after his retirement, Culver continued to fill in for pastors. During a time when Southside Baptist didn’t have a pastor, Culver assumed responsibilities such as visitation although he no longer was on staff. “I knew all these things needed to be taken care of,” he said.
Currently, he teaches Sunday School for senior adult men at Southside Baptist and is involved in other church activities, including witnessing.
Though he has retired from those duties, the Lord’s work is a different story. Culver said a time to retire from that won’t come.
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