Curtis Kelley, senior pastor of Taylorville Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, was 14 when God called him to preach. Three years later, Kelley preached his first sermon, which began 60 years of ministry.
“When you love what you do and you are immersed in your work, you don’t think of it as another year [has] come and gone,” he said.
But the Tuscaloosa Baptist Association church Kelley serves didn’t want this milestone to pass without some recognition.
On Jan. 23, more than 300 people gathered at Taylorville Baptist to celebrate his six decades in ministry. Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM), presented him with framed certificates of recognitions on behalf of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Tuscaloosa County Probate Judge W. Hardy McCollum and the SBOM.
Also, as a special surprise to Kelley, his son Matthew, pastor of Christian Valley Baptist Church, Livingston, gave the morning sermon. Matthew preached on Curtis’ ministry motto: preaching the blood, the Book and the blessed hope.
Curtis did not begin his ministry as a preacher, however. A lover of music, he served as a minister of music and youth and an evangelist before entering the pastorate. He eventually served as pastor of five churches in Alabama and Georgia. During that time, he also traveled to places like India, Kenya, Nigeria and Japan, on short-term missions trips. In 2000, Curtis retired from First Baptist Church, Talladega, and for two years, did interim work for several churches. But when Taylorville called him to be its full-time pastor, he knew it was a calling from God.
During his eight years at Taylorville, Curtis has seen a 300 percent to 400 percent increase in membership, and because of the growth, the church has begun a building project. He attributes the longevity of his ministry to God and his wife of 55 years, Barbara.
“It was great that the church honored me in this way, but I know where the real honor and glory goes,” Curtis said. “The Lord is the One who deserves it.”
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