Hugh's News & Commentary

I remember when he first came here we found out he was a “music man,” and all of you here today know he was a music man.  We’ve heard today some of the great music that he recorded, how he could use his hands to “tickle” the ivories of the piano, play the organ, direct the choir, singing and exalting the Lord Jesus Christ.  So, it wasn’t long before we selected Charlie to be our choir director.  We soon found out that he directed that choir in such a way, that we believed we had the best choir in Anderson.  A choir is reflective of the director, and the choir members will tell you that Charlie wanted everything to be just right, and we had a great choir.  When we had a cantata, people would come and just brag on that cantata they were really bragging on Charlie, because the choir reflects the director.  Charlie was always very sincere in what he was doing, and he stayed on as our choir director for 42 years.  And so we can say how much we were blessed and how much impact Charlie has had on us, because music is so very important to a church.  The Scripture says, it is required of a steward to be faithful, and Charlie was faithful.  I dealt with Charlie in the church as a friend and as a fellow laborer with him.  For over 50 years we have been blessed in that we had Charlie Presley in our church blessing us.

It was soon after that Charlie was selected to be on our church board.  I served on our board with Charlie under three pastors.  Charlie has served on our board under every pastor we have had since he has been here.  And when I was on the board with Charlie, there was not anyone that was more sincere and concerned about the promotion and the well being of the church or about promoting the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Always very sincere, always very serious about it.  Sometimes, some of the board members, myself included, would get off to the side a bit and want to emphasize Sunday school.  But Charlie would equal it out, he was as concerned about one as he was the other.  He wanted to see the total program of Taylor Memorial church go forward.  He was interested in Sunday school, he was interested in Lifeliners, he was interested in missions, he was interested in Women’s Auxiliary, and I’ve often said if Charlie thought he could get away with it, he’d put on a dress and join the Women’s Auxiliary (now Women’s Ministries).  But he had an interest in every part of the church and he was on the church board more than anybody ever has.

As a layman, Charlie was a man of integrity, he was a unique man, he was a man of character, he was one of those that believed in ethics, he did not believe in stretching the truth or drawing it up.  He wanted it told just like it was.  There was no grading on the curve with him, it was either white or it was black, and he stood his ground as if his feet were set in cement.  We’ve seen how blessed we have been to have Charlie and Mary Jo, Willette, and Mike before he went into the service.  You know behind every great man there is a great woman, and Mary Jo has been his right hand and has been by him and supported him and upheld him.  He has set records in our church, being a choir director, promoting the work of the church, being here faithfully.  You never had to worry will Charlie be here today.  He was always faithful, always faithful.  Not only was he choir director all these years, and serving on the board all these years, he was always interested in the visitation team, always there, ready to go out, ready to be a part of the Men’s Ministry, and Taylor Memorial people loved Charles Presley and appreciated him very much for all the labors he has done.

He was always interested in the business of the church, always interested in the Upper South Carolina Conference, always interested in the General Conference, and the people showed their love and respect for him by electing him as a delegate time after time.  No matter if it was a district rally or whatever Charlie was ready to go, he was there!

And Charlie was excited about Jesus, that’s what kept him going.  When people are in business, they have to be excited about the business or the business won’t do any good.  But Charlie was excited about the business, he loved the Lord with all of his heart and he wanted always to live the kind of life that would exalt the Lord Jesus Christ and bring honor and glory to the Heavenly Father.  Jesus said. “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”  We certainly appreciate our church, and I certainly appreciate Charles Presley, we appreciate his family, we appreciate the work that Mary Jo has always done, she has stood by him and also has been a blessing to the church and his family has certainly been a blessing to him.  They’ve been friends of mine, Poppa Presley and Jackson and Moody, they all seem like family members to me.

So Charles has been a blessing to me and I’m going to miss him very much, but he is what the Scripture said that I have just read.  I knew the answer to this before I read it to you, but I think now you understand better what I’m talking about when the verse says, “Know ye not there is a prince and a great man fallen.” 

A great man Charles Presley was, being excited about Jesus, being excited about working in the work of the Lord.  He’ll always be in our hearts, we will never forget Charlie.  We know that he is with the Lord today.  Our Sunday school lesson this Sunday was about the Resurrection and we know that he’s with the Lord today and I’m so glad of that.  We’re going to miss him but we’ll see him one of these days.

Pastor Brent Lollis’ Eulogy for Charles Presley

I told this family on yesterday that we were expecting this service to be lengthy . . . there’s just so much, and not enough time to say everything and cover everything that could possibly be covered with regard to Brother Presley accomplishments.  So I told them that I would do my very best to share a few things that come to mind with regard to Charlie.  I don’t desire today to be repetitious, and I shared with them that I would just take what was left.  So, whatever’s left is what I’m left with, and that’s what my assignment is this afternoon.  But I do want to share a few things with you with regard to Brother Charlie and also just a bit from God’s Word very quickly.

I have been personally acquainted with this family for quite some time.  It dates well before actually coming to serve here at Taylor Memorial as their pastor.  When I was a teenager, Willette attempted to teach me piano and music . . . it wasn’t her fault, it wasn’t anything to do with her, it was more on my end than her end, of course.  And so I became very familiar with Willette then, but I knew Charlie and Mary Jo and this family from camp meetings and conference functions at Beech Springs and just in the Upper South Carolina conference in general.  Because you could always expect them to be there, they were gonna be there, be a part of all that was going on, as Brother Osborne had said just a bit earlier, and so, I knew them and knew who they were and I knew Charlie, and I never dreamed that one day that I would come and I would serve as his pastor and the pastor of this family, and it has been my distinct honor to serve as their pastor for nearly eleven years now.

I remember that Charlie was on the board.  I was, of course, the last pastor that he served with as a board member as Brother Osborne alluded to earlier, and I remember he was on the board when I first got here and I can remember the interview that we went through and some of the things that I faced sitting there on that board and I can remember that he had a reputation throughout the conference as being tough when it come to church business and especially church politics and those kind of things.  At times he could even become somewhat intimidating; I don’t know that he meant to be, but he could be.  And so, here I am, twenty-six years old, coming over here to see what I could do with Charles Presley!  Well, out of that group there were some that had questions that day, if I could handle it.  But Charlie wasn’t one of those men.  He was one that said, let’s give him a try.  And I appreciate that.  He was in favor of this young pastor coming to serve when others had questions as to whether or not it could be possible.

You know Charlie’s story today . . . an exceptional pianist, organist, vocalist,[NOTE: at this point, the tape ran out and was turned over to record on side “B”] . . . Emmanuel College, and not just Emmanuel but through our denomination in assisting those young people in using their musical talents and abilities and gifts for God.  If you knew Charlie Presley, he kept up with politics on all levels . . . national, state, local . . .  I don’t know there was a day that went by Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity wasn’t playing in his home.  He kept up with everything that was going on and even one of our local programs here, Mr. Driver, Rick Driver, and the county politics, he kept up with all of it, knew every stitch of it, to say the least.  And it’s already been said, for over fifty years he was a faithful member of this church, serving in many, many capacities.  And I can just say, to that, that he and Mary Jo, although I did not encounter Charlie, I guess you would say, in his prime, because by the time I was here, he was already dealing with his Parkinson’s and some other issues that had come about and I just know that he and Mary Jo were here at times when nobody else would be here.  And I know that there are times when neither of them, perhaps, were physically able to be here . . . but they were here, and they were in their place.  And as a pastor, that’s very appreciative, Miss Mary Jo, for your devotion and your dedication to the Lord and to this local church.  I want to say also with regard to Mary Jo, I’ve been exposed to this situation now for its duration as far as these last months and even the last year or so are concerned as many others from our church family and close friends and this family.  Mary Jo has gone beyond the call of duty to serve her husband.  She has been there, tired, worn, but she wanted to make sure that he was taken care of.  And she did an outstanding job taking care of her husband.  Willette, and I know in these last few months, Mike has had an opportunity to come home, and he’s been a part, and all of this family that have stood by, and have worked tirelessly to make these last days comfortable days and the best days possible for this family.  You are to be commended for a job well done.

Now, I want to tell you two things that stuck out in my mind about Charlie, and then I want to share just a few verses of Scripture and a thought or two with regard to what I felt like the Lord was saying to us today.  You know, there are a lot of things that we could say we admired about Charlie, obviously, many of those have been brought out.  But, there were two things in particular that really stuck out in my mind and one of them has already been scratched around and I just want to see if I can dig it just a little bit deeper this afternoon.

I want to say to you that I admire the fact that he would take a stand for what he believed in . . . he did do that.  He stood for what he thought was right and he wouldn’t give in.  And, at times, you know, it might even come down to a little fight.  You that know Charlie, you know that, you know how he, I guess the polite way of saying that is he had tenacity, he was, we don’t want to say that he could get stubborn at times, do we?  But he had that tenacity about him that so many of us sometimes, I guess, wish we had.  Matter of fact, I remembered one thing that happened in a board meeting right after I had gotten here.  At that time in our denomination, I don’t know that we could call it a tithe, I don’t know that our general officials, our denominational officials would like me to say that, but they called it a tithe anyway . . . I thought it was more of a due than it was a tithe because the general church was asking for a ten percent offering off of the tithes that come into the local church and the conference was asking for five and a half percent for a total of fifteen and a half percent.  And at the time I think, Taylor was giving about twelve or thirteen percent.  We weren’t quite up to that fifteen and a half percent . . . but you know Charlie, Charlie was a man that went by the book.  I remember one of the things that Charlie said in that meeting, he made a motion, he said, I want to make a motion that we give the entire fifteen and a half percent.  He followed those words with, that way, when we go to conference to fight, we can fight fair!  So, that simply meant that, when he went to Beech Springs or went to the General Conference he could, with a clear conscience, get up on the floor and say, Mr. Chairman!  We all remember that, and we have to admire him for that . . . we do.

Another thing that comes to my mind with Charlie was again with the church business and politics, there’s no doubt at times he could be tough   . . . there’s no doubt about it.  But you know what I found out about Charlie Presley was that even at times when you were at odds and shared opposing views, we could walk out of a boardroom and still be friends.  I didn’t have to worry if he was going to turn the other way and go to the other side of the church or not look at me or not speak to me or hold some feeling against me.  We had our bumps and bruises along the way, there’s no doubt about that.  But we were still friends . . . and I loved him and I admired him, and I feel he was the same with me.  And our friendship and our love for each other never diminished.

In Psalm 84, this is where the Lord seemed to lead me for our time together.  I’m just going to share, I’d like to share the entire psalm with you, but I won’t do that, I’ll just read a few verses.  Psalm 84:4 says, “Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house; they will be still praising Thee.  Selah.  Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee and whose heart are the ways of them, who passing through the valley of Baca, make it a well.  The rains also filleth the pools.  They go from strength to strength every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.”

One translation that I was looking at used verse 4, blessed are they that dwell in Thy house, they will be still be praising Thee.  Happy are those who can live in Your house always singing Your praises.  And I didn’t think, as the Holy Spirit just reminded me of this passage, that there could be a more appropriate text to share a few thoughts from today.  In this psalm, this is a psalm of pilgrimage, set in the glory days of Israel when they were united, a united kingdom with their own land and King David was most likely on the throne at that time when it was written.  And every year crowds would flock to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles.  In order for them to do that, they had to take a pilgrimage, they had to make a journey.  And they would make that journey from every part of the territories occupied by Israel.  And they would make their pilgrimage and they would come to the Holy City Jerusalem, and they were there to worship at the Temple.  But as they travelled, they would sing this song or perhaps one similar to it . . .. they had a song down in their heart. . .a song of ascent, as it was referred to back when I was at Holmes Bible College; and they would sing those songs, that melody that was deep in their heart as they would travel.  And I think that there is something else here that we need to note, that there were days when the traveling was good, the singing came easy and there were days when the traveling was not as good.  And it isn’t always and wasn’t always then easy to sing.  The psalm said that they had to pass through what the psalmist called the Valley of Baca.  Now no one knows for sure what that valley really means, there is an array of opinions on the actual meaning.  Some scholars believe it was a garbage heap or a dump that the pilgrims had to pass by.  Other scholars believe that it takes its name from the Bossom tree which was there between Jordan and Jerusalem in this valley that they called there the valley of Bacom.  And this particular tree, it grew in dry places and it was believed that this valley of Baca was a harsh dry place and one of the things that was interesting about this tree was that this tree would weep it’s sap, and this sap was used at times for salve or medication.  But it would weep in this dry and harsh place, so it has become known or identified as a place of weeping.  There’s no doubt at times, when the travelers, when they passed by that area, they themselves would shed tears on the journey because it wasn’t a comfortable place to be.  It was a harsh and difficult place to go through.

There are just a couple of things that come to my attention that I want to share with you very quickly, and that is this: 

First, I would just remind you simply that we are on a journey, that this life that we’re on is a pilgrimage.  Although we never dreamed this day would come.  You know, when I told you I never dreamed that I would be Charlie’s pastor, as a young boy I never dreamed that I’d have to stand here and give the last words over his life either, as far as we know it on this earth.  We’re on a pilgrimage, and we’re on a journey, we can’t stop this traveling that we are traveling from cradle to grave.  But the good news about it is this, is though even though we travel, we can go through life with a melody in our hearts, hallelujah!  You can sing a song as you go through life.  The song I’m talking about, I don’t believe just comes natural.  The song I’m talking about comes when Jesus Christ puts it in your heart, and there’s no doubt today that Jesus Himself, when Charlie accepted Christ to be his Lord and Savior, He put a song in his heart.  And Charlie was able to sing that song as he went along life’s way, and he was privileged enough not to just sing it in his heart and hear the melody in his heart, he could get it out the way it was supposed to be, and he did.  He had that song while he traveled through this life and nothing was ever able to take it away, not even in the valley of weeping, not even in those difficult hours and those difficult days, he was still able to sing that song.

The second thing that I want to note this afternoon is that we all have those valley experiences that we go through.  But you know what I like about it?  I like the fact that it says, who passing through the valley of Baca or the valley of weeping.  I like that word that says, passing through.  That says something to me this afternoon; that simply says that we go through those valleys, we don’t have to stay in those valleys.  And Charlie went through many valleys in his life; he went through, obviously, his impairment with his eyes, his blindness.  I’m sure that must have been a difficult thing to encounter and go through.  He went through over twenty years ago being diagnosed with Parkinson’s.  And it got severe toward the end, obviously.  But you know what, the thing that amazed me about Charles Presley was even when the odds were against him, he had that determination to go on through those low places and those valleys in life to reach for higher ground.  They didn’t stop him, they didn’t keep him, he went on.  I think his brother, Dr. Moody Presley said it best when he said this:  He said greatness is not who can amass the most material things or money;  I don’t think it is the one who has achieved the highest education or honors.  It’s not who is blessed with the most musical talent or the sharpest mind; it’s not the one with the best athletic ability or served in the highest positions.  To me, greatness is the person who faces the most severe challenges in life and musters up the courage to overcome them with style and grace.  And he added to that, you win, hands down, Charlie… you win.

And you know what, even in these last months, tough months, Charlie couldn’t sing, he tried, but he just couldn’t.  I was back at his home in November, maybe early December, and someone had given him another organ.  I don’t know where he kept getting those organs and pianos and all that stuff from, but anybody that wanted to donate one, he was ready to take it.  And he climbed up on that thing, I just knew it was too dangerous, and he tried . .  he was so frustrated because his Parkinson’s just had impaired his fingers and he couldn’t do what he wanted to do.  I thought about that, and I thought about . . . but you know what?  Though he couldn’t vocally express it and though those fingers on a keyboard couldn’t get that melody out, it was still in his heart.  Even in those low, harsh, dry times it was still in his heart, he still had a song while passing through.

And here’s the last thing:  Not only do we pass through those valleys of weeping and those low times in life, but we also have to pass through should Jesus prolong his Coming, the valley of the shadow of death.  But there again, the consolation is, yea, though I walk through; you see, although 6:30 on Saturday morning Charlie went through that valley, he didn’t stay there.  Death has no hold on him.  It could not nor will it in the future stop or prevent him.  As a matter of fact, just as this psalm says, blessed are they that dwell in thy house, and when you get to the latter part of this psalm, it says, for a day in thy courts is better than a thousand, one day in your courts, Lord is better than a thousand elsewhere, and I think today that we can say with assurance that Charlie is where the real music is playing and where the real music is being sung this afternoon.  He’s hearing heaven’s music and he’s part of heaven’s choir and if we could speak to him, I believe he would say with all that he could, he would say, better is one day in the courts of God, in the house of God, with the Lord, being with Him, better is that than all of the days I ever spent on earth.

And that’s the consolation and the hope we have today.  He’s still singing . . . he’s singing through you and – I heard one dear lady who came to the choir, she said, I just played his arrangement of “Onward Christian Soldiers” before I came this afternoon.  She said, he taught me that as a student and I’ll never forget it.  And there was someone else, I believe one of our conference superintendants, I noticed had written with Brother Morgan, and he gave us the lines of I would not miss it, would you.  He said those lines will forever be in my mind, and I’ll never forget.
Charlie is still singing today . . . he’s singing through you, singing through me, but most of all, he’s singing with our Lord, our Savior, at home in heaven.  And if you’re here today, and you don’t know if for certain, if you had to go through the valley of the shadow of death, that you would be ready to go home and be with the Lord, you can know with certainty before you leave here today.  And you don’t have to miss anything.  It’s very simple, and Charlie would like for me to give you an invitation, I know that.  This family would like for me to give you that invitation today because that’s what he lived his life for.  And if you need to know Him in a more real and intimate way, you need him to be your Savior; I’m going to invite you in just a moment to pray with me in the closing prayer of this service.  I want you to think about that for just a moment, and I want you to allow the Holy Spirit (do some soul searching, have a heart check-up) let the Holy Spirit reveal to you today those things that need to be revealed, and let’s make it right with God through His Son Jesus, and before we leave this place today, let’s leave with assurance, knowing that one day we will see Christ, and we will be at home with Christ, and we will meet Charlie to sing again.