The Reverend Dr. C. S. Pope was born on November 22, 1921 to the late Jasper and Mary Pope. He was a native of Sneads in Jackson County Florida. He accepted Christ into his life at an early age. He was called into the ministry at the age of eighteen and was ordained at his hometown church, Little Zion Baptist Church.

Reverend Pope received a Bachelors of Science Degree in Religious Education from Florida Normal and Industrial Memorial College in Saint Augustine, Florida and a degree in Theology from Selma University in Selma, Alabama. He also attended the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta Georgia and has received an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the National Christian Foundation Bible College in Decatur, Alabama.

Reverend Pope was an active Mason. A former chaplain of Moffitt Lodge No. 513 and the 32nd Ancient Acceptance Scottish Rite of Free Masonry, he was a member of the United Supreme Council 33°.

Reverend Pope’s pastoral leadership spans 50 years with 42 years leading the Greater Shiloh Baptist Church in Headland, AL and serving five other churches in Chattahoochee and Marianna, Florida, as well as Donalsonville and Gordon, Georgia.

Reverend Pope became the pastor of Greater Shiloh Baptist Church in 1965 where he served faithfully, until his retirement in 2007. As a seminary student at Selma University and lifetime member of the NAACP, Reverend Pope joined several thousand foot soldiers in the historic Selma to Montgomery March on March 25, 1965.

He was a proponent of justice and equality, and exemplified the highest level of human dignity by loving others in the way that Jesus Christ loves us. In his years of pastoral leadership at Greater Shiloh Baptist Church, the church grew spiritually and numerically. Additional land and property was purchased, the Headland Head Start Center was developed with Reverend Pope as its first Director spanning 20 years, and the church continued to impact the community for the cause of Christ.

A host of preachers and pastors have been developed and mentored under his watchful eye and families and children are still benefiting from his visionary leadership in the Wiregrass community.

He was preceded in death by his parents; and five brothers: J.C. Pope, Willie James Pope, Alto Pope, Ural Pope and Jasper Pope.

Reverend Pope leaves his lovely and devoted wife: Annis G. Pope. God blessed this union with two children: Angerine Pope and Anita Bellinger (Danny). God also blessed this union with a blended family: Liz Pope Pearl (Rufus), Verna Pope Tremble (Herbert), Curtis Pope, Jr., Alexander Pope (Larice), Mary Pope Wright (Frank), Virginia Pope Cheney and Horace Pope deceased; twenty-five grandchildren; thirty-two great grandchildren; twenty-two great-great grandchildren; two sisters-in-law: Lois Pope and Lillie G. Forrest and a host of relatives and friends.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in honor of Reverend Pope to the Greater Shiloh Baptist Church Legacy Campaign.  Checks may be sent to P. O. Box 62, Headland, Alabama 36345.

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