The brisk, cold wind acted like an impatient bystander during the ceremony to rename a street next to First Street Missionary Baptist Church, and before anyone could do the honors, a big gust loosened the cloth cover atop the sign and revealed the new name — Pastor C.E. Timberlake Way.
“What a day this is,” the honoree said from the front lawn of the church he’s led for 39 years. “I feel honored … I don’t deserve it, but I declare I’m glad of it.”
He faced an exuberant crowd of several dozen church members, city officials and others who came out for the ceremony Wednesday afternoon. Mayor James R. Knight Jr. was among the well-wishers.
Timberlake Way replaces Quarry Street — but this isn’t the first time the minister has preached at a site that bear’s his family name. He was ordained at Timberlake Grove Baptist Church near Lexington, Tennessee, in 1965.
“My daddy was a farmer and my mother was a housewife,” Timberlake told Hoptown Chronicle shortly before Wednesday’s ceremony.
The youngest of four children, he was born Aug. 11, 1941. He grew up in the tiny Timberlake Grove community about halfway between Nashville and Memphis and attended a one-room, segregated elementary school before progressing to Montgomery High School in nearby Lexington.
After high school, Timberlake worked on the farm and did factory work while attending night classes to get started in college. He soon made his way to Nashville and enrolled at American Baptist College, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree.
From Nashville he moved to Kentucky and attended Murray State University and the Hopkinsville College of the Bible to earn a bachelor of theology degree. He also taught at the Hopkinsville school, establishing ties that would bring him back several years later.
First Street Baptist was looking for a new pastor in 1984 and called for Timberlake to consider the position. He accepted, left a church in Jackson, Tennessee, and moved to Hopkinsville. Now in his early 80s, Timberlake has spent his entire adult life in the ministry and has served as pastor for just three churches during that time. Many of his peers have served a dozen or more churches at this stage in life.
“It is very seldom that ministers stay that long,” he said of his tenure with First Street Baptist. “I guess we just fell in love with each other.”
Timberlake said his relationship with First Street has been strong because of “fellowship, communication, togetherness, commitment, dedication and love.”
The church was organized in 1900 and today has about 350 members on the rolls, but Timberlake concedes the average daily attendance at his church has declined some in recent years, as it has at most churches.
Several speakers at the church Wednesday praised Timberlake for his unwavering dedication to his parishioners.
After the wind helped unveil the new sign, several people shot photos with their phones and then hustled out of the chilly air and into the church basement for a reception with Timberlake. They are making plans to celebrate his 40th anniversary as pastor at the end of the year.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
