On Aug. 22, Mickey Castleberry returned to Bethlehem Baptist Church, Brundidge, to relive an important day in his life — the day he preached his first sermon in a church.
“I stood in the same church, preached from the same pulpit, [held] the same Bible and used the same outline on notebook paper I had used 50 years ago,” Castleberry said.
In 1958, while in high school, Castleberry was licensed to preach by Highland Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery. For the next two years, he preached in nursing homes, prisons and schools and at community events. His first sermon in a church came Aug. 22, 1960, at Bethlehem Baptist.
Castleberry attended Howard College in Birmingham and graduated in 1966, the year after it became Samford University. He graduated from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 1969 and received his doctor of ministry in 1978 from Luther Rice Seminary then located in Jacksonville, Fla.
Over the years, Castleberry has served as pastor of Brewer Memorial Baptist Church, Cecil; Pike Road Baptist Church; First Baptist Church, Wetumpka; Ridgecrest Baptist Church, Trussville; and Ridgecrest Baptist Church, Montgomery. After retiring in 1998, he took on 10 interim pastorates.
In 2006, Castleberry became pastor of Bradleyton Baptist Church, Highland Home. In the past four years, he has seen the Alabama Crenshaw Baptist Association church grow from 10 members to more than 50.
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