The Rev. Dr. Calvin Collins says he has felt the need to serve as long as he can remember.
“I want to make a difference for the Kingdom of God,” he said. “What drives me now is a desire to do more. To use the words of the prophet Amos, to not be ‘at ease in Zion.’ I pray that I never get at ease in Zion.”
After 30 years of service as a pastor of the same church, Collins continues to aim to “not feel at ease” — at New Zion Missionary Baptist Church.
“After being here for 30 years, you try to make sure you’re doing your best and not to take anything for granted or assume anything simply because you’ve been here,” Collins said. “It’s been challenging, fulfilling, motivating, inspirational, humbling, and I’m glad I’m here.”
Wanting to serve God is what led Collins to accept the position as pastor of New Zion at the age of 28.
“I technically was not looking for a church to pastor at the time,” he said. “I just wanted to do what I could to help, and that was my mindset. That’s what I prayed, ‘Lord, how can I be a servant to you and how can I be a useful tool to you?”
When the church asked him to submit his resume, Collins said he felt like it was another avenue to be an instrument for God to use.
“I feel the same way now,” he said. “I believe in serving, and it’s an opportunity to serve.”
Today, New Zion will honor its longtime pastor and his family during a 30th-year recognition service at 11 a.m. The Rev. Dr. Valmadge Towner, pastor of Friendship M.B. Church in Greenwood and president of Coahoma Community College, will address the theme, “A Servant of God Committed to Preaching the Gospel.”
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Collins said he felt the call to ministry at an early age.
“That started happening in high school,” he said. “I didn’t know what was going on. I just loved church, loved all the things about it. I loved to hear preaching.”
Collins is a Yazoo County native. He grew up in Benton, which is about 6 miles outside of Yazoo City. His home church was New Liberty Missionary Baptist Church in Benton.
He finished his secondary education at Benton High School, where he finished early after summer school at the end of his 11th-grade year. He had enough high school credits to begin college in the fall, which is when he began attending Holmes Junior College.
After receiving his associate’s degree, Collins began attending the University of Mississippi in Oxford.
That’s how he ended up in Greenwood. At Ole Miss, he met his future wife, Elnora — a Greenwood native and former Miss Greenwood High School who currently works as the parent liaison at Threadgill Primary School.
The couple have been married for 36 years.
Upon receiving his bachelor’s degree in zoology, Collins attended the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where he received a bachelor’s degree in respiratory therapy.
He worked at Greenwood Leflore Hospital, where he has served as a respiratory therapist, an assistant department head and hospital chaplain. He still serves as a volunteer part-time hospital chaplain.
Collins took some religious courses at the Mississippi Baptist Seminary in Jackson. From there, he began attending Wesley Biblical Seminary in Jackson, which is where he received his Master of Divinity degree.
In 2009, he graduated from Oral Roberts University with a Doctorate of Ministry degree.
“I wanted to expand my knowledge of the Bible and church history,” he said. “I felt a call to the ministry already, and that, to me, was the next step. I needed to broaden my Biblical knowledge and church knowledge.”
Collins’ road to becoming a pastor began at his home church several years before he became the pastor of New Zion. That’s where he received his license and became ordained.
“In our tradition — the black Baptist tradition — if you are called to preach, you get with the pastor of your home church, and you share that with him,” he said.
After the approval of a church council and being quizzed on the Bible and church traditions, Collins was given a time to preach by his pastor.
Collins can still remember his first sermon, which was titled “I Just Decided to Make Jesus My Choice.” He said the event was like a church homecoming with many in attendance to hear his first sermon.
“People from everywhere came,” he said.
Collins said he felt nervous.
“I felt like I was not even there,” he said. “It was a surreal experience, an out-of-body experience.”
Collins said his journey to licensure and ordination was a good experience.
“When I did my dedicatory statements in my dissertation, it was dedicated to the men and women of Benton, Mississippi, who I grew up with,” he said.
Becoming a pastor was not a hasty decision for Collins.
“It was something you just listen to for a while,” he said. “We call it in our tradition ‘the call of God upon one’s life does not leave.’ Sometimes it goes up and down. Sometimes it is more prominent than other times.”
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Collins said the 30-year milestone is not only his, but also the church’s.
“I think it’s a testimony of the church and the church-and-pastor relationship,” he said.
New Zion, which was established in 1896, is the only church he has pastored, and Collins said that the last three decades have been a privilege.
“Pastoring has been good,” he said. “It has been challenging, and it is a responsibility that I don’t think anyone should take lightly.”
Throughout the years, Collins has enjoyed officiating at weddings, including those of three of his children. He also has enjoyed the many baptisms he has performed. He’s been saddened when he has had to officiate at funerals of members who were vibrant when he first arrived at the church 30 years ago. He’s felt joy when he’s gotten to introduce a new grandchild to the New Zion congregation.
Now, Collins said he is looking toward the future.
“There are still some things I want us to do,” he said. “I want to make a greater impact on this community we live in and make a greater impact for the Kingdom’s sake. I don’t want to limit our influence to two blocks. I think that would be minimizing the work of the Kingdom. There are still people to be saved, still people who need to hear the Gospel.
“I believe things don’t happen because you say them; things happen because you do them. ... A religion that works on Sunday has to work on Monday.”
• Contact Ruthie Robison at 581-7233 or rrobison@gwcommonwealth.com.
