Ministers’ conference president speaks about the passing of Rev. Dr. Carlton Eversley
Rev. Dr. Carlton Eversley
Last sermon by Rev. Dr. Eversley ‘passes the baton’ to new leadership
Rev. Dr. Carlton Eversley, a local pastor and civil rights activist, died Monday morning at the age of 62. Eversley was the longtime pastor of Dellabrook Presbyterian Church and well-respected member of the Ministers’ Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity (MCWSV).
Eversley was front and center on many social justice issues for decades in and out of Forsyth County. He was one of the prominent faith leaders in support of Darryl Hunt, who was exonerated of the rape of Deborah Sykes after spending 19 years in prison.
During his time with the conference, Eversley inspired many of the young pastors who are now in leadership roles today. Tembila Covington, the current president of the MCWSV, was saddened by the sudden loss of Eversley and commended him for his years of dedicated service to the city and beyond.
“He was a great man; he was a pastor, civil rights activist, but most of all he was a prophet in our day,” said Covington. “His march was always at the beat of the drum for social justice, but primarily around equitable education and justice for our black and brown children to have all of the resources and have a fair chance at doing well in school and life.
“He was not a man of few words. He articulated his thoughts, ideology and his beliefs very well. He was not shy about speaking boldly and his tone was always strong. He came with a message that had great wisdom in it.”
The Ministers’ Conference just reconvened from their summer break on Sept. 10 and Eversley delivered the order of the day, which is the sermon given at the end of every meeting. According to Covington, Eversley asked to deliver the first sermon following the break.
“He had made a point of telling the secretary, before we went on summer break, that he wanted to be the first order of the day,” Covington said. “When he came, he really gave us an opportunity to really reflect on our history, being that 2019 marked 400 years since the first slave ship came to the United States.
“As he began to speak about that history and all the aches and pains and trying to address this issue about violence in our community and particularly gun violence, he began to elevate some key pieces about the civil rights era. He closed talking about he and Dr. Mendez were satisfied about the new and upcoming leadership of the Ministers’ Conference.”
Covington said Eversley was happy to “pass the baton” to those who have “been in the trenches” observing them, sitting beside them and paying attention. “He called out Bishop Fulton’s name, he called Rev. Alvin Carlisle’s name, he called out my name, he called out Rev. Fuller’s name, and he called out others as well. He just wanted to name those who they were satisfied to pass the baton to. They (Eversley and Mendez) were okay with how things were going to go from here,” Covington said about Eversley’s words during his sermon.
“Not only is it humbling to have heard him say that, but to now have to live out this reality he spoke about last Tuesday,” she continued. “He elevated that we are the leaders by calling us out and now we have this work that is before us of a new era, that even the one we live in is still plagued with many social injustices, that we now have room enough to go ahead.
“We have all the instructions, all the resources and all the knowledge to be able to go forth and be successful. We will not let him down, because we have the baton and we will run this race with as much passion, tenacity and appreciation for humanity and those who have been pushed aside and left behind. Now that we have the baton, there is no sitting down anymore; now we have to run.”
