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A Representative Man Elder Phillip N. Conely

An old cliché declares "brevity is the soul of wit," and Brother Curtis had this in

spades. However, his quips when considered had great wisdom or advice to them. Per-
haps no greater personal example of this in my life is when he met my future wife for

the first time. When I was somewhere between a boy and man, I remember asking
Brother Curtis's dear companion Sister Edith - his perfect complement in every way
with her spirit - to please pray for me to find a good woman to be my wife. About 3

years later, I attended the Camp Meeting with my "girlfriend" who i would marry less
than 2 yrs later. Sister Edith came to me and said, "I've been praying for you, and I

think my prayers have been answered." Brother Curtis was to the point, "Is that your
girl?" "Yes sir." "She's purty." While that statement was funny and very concise, it hit
me later by the way he said it that those two words meant, "I approve."

If that story was an example of his color, his continual presence in God's house is a tes-

tament to his character and faith. His presence at Bethel Church or the Camp Meeting
were a given. His color in God's house also made him memorable. I don't think I've
ever seen someone beat 4/4 time while leading singing the way he did. His patented

"slouch" during a bad sermon was something no preacher wanted to see during one of
his efforts. In my earliest memories of Bethel and the Camp Meeting, he called lead-

ers, and his attention to young boys to get the experience as well as encouragement
while leading showed his spirit to the cause.

No person of this nature is without foibles and flaws, and yet sometimes one's flaws
make their mark even more indelible. He once told me (when he saw me wear a black

Stetson), "I see you wore a black hat the other day. You know what they say about
black hats? Well, sometimes it's enough to play the part of the bad guy. Keeps every-
one else honest!" When he was perceived as the bad guy, one thing I never had to

doubt: Anything he did, he did with the cause in mind. Doesn't mean he was perfect in
his thinking or execution, but I believe his motivation was 100% for the good of Zion.

Having lived through the Great Depression and a World War naturally speaking and
some tumultuous times spiritually speaking, he wanted the church to see good days
and have extended seasons of peace and prosperity.

Thinking about his life, singing certainly springs to mind. As a lifelong Primitive Bap-

tist and avid Sacred Harp singer, he loved the good old songs of Zion. To men of his
stripe, singing was not a lead-in to preaching, a prelude to worship, or a duty. It was
worship from the fervency of the heart. A line from a British nursery rhyme seems

appropriate when thinking of singing and Brother Curtis, "And he shall have music
wherever he goes."

Again, a man of this magnitude was made even more so by taking the time one on one
with me. My last visit with him was after he had been put in a nursing home. When we

walked into the room, he and I chatted for several minutes, and he wanted to know
where I'd been - preaching among our people - and how my life had been going. Every

time I would mention a church I preached at that he knew, he would reply, "Good
folks" or "Good people." When I would give him updates on my family: wife, chil-
dren, mom, siblings, he would take an interest as if it was his own family. To him it

was. He was my kind of people. 'Nuff said.