CityView Magazine

O n Sunday mornings at the red-brick church along Moore Street in downtown Fayetteville, they still feel his presence. Not only at First Baptist Church, but throughout this city. "We celebrate the life of a giant," the Rev. Reginald Wells, pastor at Falling Run Missionary Baptist Church, would tell mourners who filled the First Baptist Church sanctuary on August 28, 2017, to remember the Rev. Chancy Rudolph Edwards, the church pastor from 1953 to 1990. "He was not selfish with his time. He was not selfish with his influence. Not only was he a statesman, he was a pastor par excellence." e Rev. C.R. Edwards towered in the pulpit, and church members will tell you the good preacher stood as tall as the church steeple. He preached the gospel with authority. "Hallelujah!" church-goers would exclaim. He preached the gospel with purpose. "Amen!" church-goers would exclaim. Let there be no doubt, the Rev. C.R. Edwards was a presence, and his footprints are deep in this community still, from his involvement in the 1960s Civil Rights movement and unrest downtown to the old Fayetteville City Board of Education to the state legislature. "Dr. C.R. Edwards has finished his long and illustrious work for us," the Rev. Cureton Johnson told mourners on that August day. "Today, we celebrate a life well spent." A native of Nash County, the Rev. Edwards was the youngest of 12 children born to his tenant farmer and Baptist preacher father. He earned his Master of Divinity degree from Shaw University and found himself at First Baptist Church in 1953, succeeding the Rev. omas H. Dwelle, when the church was located on Maxwell and Franklin streets. e church grew and prospered and found its new home on Moore Street in 1963. "Dr. Edwards made such a big imprint in the Fayetteville area because he showed so much love to so many people through his service as a clergyman and as a community leader," the Rev. Johnson says. "At 6-foot, 4-inches tall, he commanded respect physically, but more-so, spiritually and intellectually. He was a giant in our community." "Yes, he was a great servant leader, but he was nobody's footstool," says the Rev. Johnson, who succeeded the Rev. Edwards in 1990. "He oen said, 'I'm nobody's 'ram in the bush,' meaning he did not want to be someone's aerthought or secondary option." A preacher and community giant BY BILL KIRBY JR. PHOTO BY CINDY BURNHAM A preacher and community giant BY BILL KIRBY JR. Fascinating FAYETTEVILLE The Rev. C.R. Edwards was a presence, and his footprints are deep in this community still, from his involvement in the 1960s Civil Rights movement to the old Fayetteville City Board of Education to the state legislature. The Rev. Edwards is pictured with former N.C. Supreme Court judge Patricia Timmons-Goodson and the late Rep. Nick Jeralds. The Rev. C.R. Edwards was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by then-Gov. Mike Easley in 2003.

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