Pastor Terry Irby has always loved living in Clarke County. It is where he was born and raised, and he can clearly recall his time at school growing up.
“I was born at my home in Stonewall in 1938. Both my mother and dad worked at the mill, and we moved out to the Rolling Creek community when I was seven years old. My dad was born in the Rolling Creek community, so he had properties that he had inherited from his father,” remembered Terry. “We built a home out there, and I grew up there and attended school at Stonewall. Because of boundaries, I ended up going to Quitman for one year in fourth grade. Then, I went back to Stonewall and graduated from there in 1958.”
Not long after he graduated, Terry enrolled in the military and served there for a few years. It was while he was in the military that he felt the call to the ministry.
“At that time, they were drafting prettily heavily into the military, so I enlisted in the Air Force and spent over four years in the Air Force,” recalled Terry. “After basic training, which was at Lackland in Texas, I ended up in McChord Air Force base in Washington state for about two years. Then, I got an assignment to Goose Bay in Labrador, Canada, for 15 months. While I was in the Air Force, I was in the administrative field and maintained classified files. I was there for almost four years, and when I came back from Goose Bay, I didn’t have time for another assignment out of my four year enlistment. They told me that in order to get another assignment that I had to reenlist. I didn’t want to reenlist because I had felt called to the ministry and wanted to get out and start school. I enjoyed military life. If I had not felt called to preach, I probably would have stayed in the Air Force.”
Once he finished his enlistment, Terry immediately began working in the ministry and obtaining his education.
“In 1960, I was licensed to preach by Rolling Creek Baptist Church. When I finished my enlistment in 1962, I took a church here in Clarke County: Souenlovie Baptist Church. That was my first church, and I started there in August of 1962. Also that August, I started attending Clarke College in Newton, MS. I completed that and then went to Mississippi College. My last year at Mississippi College, I took a church up in the Mississippi Delta. I was at Bethany Baptist Church for two and a half years. While I was in the Delta, I attended Delta State University because I need a couple of years of a language in order to get my Bachelor of Arts degree.”
While he enjoyed his time in the Delta, Terry would continue to follow God’s call in his life, eventually leading him to move to another state.
“While I was in the Delta, a friend of mine recommended me to First Baptist Church in Wilmer, Alabama. I didn’t really want to leave the Delta, but the Lord revealed to me that he wanted me to go there. I went there in October of 1968, and by that time I had two of my three children,” expressed Terry. “I ended up spending 32 years at First Baptist Church in Wilmer, and then I retired in 2000.”
During that time, he underwent a loss and then was able to revive a relationship that has only grown stronger over the years.
“My first wife was deceased, and I ended up marrying Jewel Martin Irby, who was my girlfriend in the fourth grade,” described Terry. “We were engaged in 1958. Because of the military, we were separated and didn’t make it. We got back together 40 something years later, and we’ve been married 20 years now.”
Although he thought he had retired in 2000, he quickly learned that he really hadn’t completely retired and was still called to the ministry after returning home to Clarke County.
“After I retired from Wilmer, I came back to Clarke County and built a home at my home place in the Rolling Creek community. I cut the timber off the place and built the home, so it was a two year project,” explained Terry. “After I came back here, I pastored Oak Grove Baptist Church for about 13 years. I thought I had retired, but preachers don’t really get to retire.”
He started a new form of ministry after he left Oak Grove, and it eventually brought him to another pastoring position in the county.
“I ended up doing prophecy studies after that because I’d had an interest in that for a long time. Bro. Grady Crowell was instrumental in getting me in a lot of the churches in the county,” expressed Terry. “I did prophecy studies for several months, and Harmony Baptist Church contacted me about being their interim. I told them that I would as long as I could continue to do my prophecy studies on Sunday nights. I was with them for about six weeks when they voted to call me as pastor and asked me if I would take the position. We’ve been there for eight years now. In August, I’ll have been pastoring for 60 years. I’ve had a blessed time. As long as the Lord gives me breath and strength, I’ll continue to pastor and do whatever I can.”
Terry hasn’t only pastored various churches over the years. He has also participated in different mission trips and has been instrumental in giving tours of the Holy Land.
“I’ve been on several mission trips. I spent two weeks in Ecuador some years ago. I also went to Brazil for two weeks and preached there,” stated Terry. “I’ve made six trips to the Holy Land. I hosted tours to the Holy Land. I had the seventh trip planned, but the company I was using advised me to cancel the seventh trip because of the tension that was between the Palestinians and Israelis at that time. When I had retired, my plan was really to host Holy Land tours and take maybe one a year.”
Overall, Terry feels very blessed with the life he has and desires nothing more than to continue to do the ministry he has been called to do. He will continue to be a positive light for everyone he meets and serve as long as he is able.
