CHARLOTTE — More than 200 people came to the Embassy Suites in Charlotte June 16 to congratulate Deacon Curtiss P. Todd on the 30th anniversary of his ordination to the diaconate as well as his continued service to Our Lady of Consolation Parish, the diocese and the community at large.
The celebration was hosted by the “Spiritual Intercessors” of OLC, led by Naomi Byrd, and remarks from guests including Deacon Stephen Pickett, Rosheene Adams from the Diocese of Charlotte’s African American Affairs Ministry, Willis Joseph, Catherine Gomez, Pat McDonald and a special presentation from Priscilla Duncan. OLC musical performers Toni Tupponce and Morris Whitaker entertained with musical numbers in between tributes from the numerous guest speakers.
The 80-year-old Deacon Todd reflected on his 30 years of ministry, which included service as vice chancellor for the Diocese of Charlotte, leadership in the diocesan African American Affairs Ministry, RCIA, the Black Catholic Congress and civil rights advocacy.
“You know, 30 years is important but to be honest with you, to me it has been more than 30 years of service; it has been 30 years of growth,” he said. “I don’t mean personal or physical growth, I mean spiritual growth. Those of you who knew me – as a boy, as a teenager, as a young man, as a middle-aged man, as a newly-ordained man – those who knew me know that I had little to no spirituality. None whatsoever. In all honesty, I was arrogant, opinionated, egotistical, selfish, didn’t go to church, had no prayer life, and my only interest was in getting what physically appeased me and not spiritually.
“I didn’t see God in my life, but He was, and He had a plan for me.”
God was calling him from a young age, he said, and at first he felt he should become a Lutheran minister. He joined the Lutheran Church and made plans to attend a Lutheran seminary after finishing school.
But that was “my plan, not God’s, because it didn’t happen,” he said.
He graduated from college and “left religion,” he said. “Then at 28, I started having feelings: Curtiss, you have to start doing something more with your life than you’re doing.”
He explored different religions and his research led him to Catholicism.
“The Catholic Church was the only religion that I could chase all the way back straight to Jesus,” he said. “I said, ‘That’s got to be the church for me.’”
He entered the Catholic Church, still feeling called by God somehow, but not knowing to what exactly. At first, he thought perhaps God was calling him to the priesthood – “again, my plan, not God’s.”
He grew discouraged and drifted away from the Church for a time. At 45, he recalled, the feeling returned that God was calling him to something more: “Curtiss, you’ve got to do more. There is more here to life than what you are doing.”
One day while he was driving to Sunday Mass, he realized he couldn’t make it in time to the church in Rock Hill where he had been attending.
“I looked down at the clock and it was almost 11 o’clock. I called myself a few choice names and said, ‘‘You can’t make it back in time for Mass.’ And then I remembered: Our Lady of Consolation is just two exits up.”
His daughter had gone to OLC’s school, so he was familiar with the parish. He arrived just in time for Mass, slipping in to the back pew. And he kept going back to OLC for Mass, gradually getting involved in parish life. He met with then pastor Father Wilbur Thomas, and described to him the feelings he had been having.
“He finally asked me one day, ‘Curtiss, have you ever thought about the permanent diaconate?’ And I said no.”
Father Thomas suggested that he apply, even though he did not know much about the program at the time. “I applied for the diaconate and was accepted – not my plan, but God’s plan,” Deacon Todd recounted.
“God did not plan for me to be a Lutheran minister, He did not plan for me to be a Catholic priest. His plan for me was to be a Catholic permanent deacon.”
Since he was ordained on June 18, 1988, Deacon Todd has made it his mission “to minister to the people of African American decent, while at the same time making other cultures aware of the positive contributions, talents and abilities of African Americans to the Church and the world.”
In a 2005 interview with the Catholic News Herald, he reiterated that goal: “I would like the Church – meaning the people in the diocese – to establish a true and honest relationship with Jesus, knowing without a doubt what He would say, do and think in any situation. If and when this happens, it would erase racism, egoism, self-importance and so on. We wouldn’t have any concerns about the Church, for it would truly become what it was intended to be.”
Thirteen years later conversations and dialogue have been exchanged, protests have been waged, movements have been created and the Church in western North Carolina is getting closer to “eradicating racism” in the name of Jesus – largely thanks to the leadership of strong black Catholics such as Deacon Todd.
Through these past 30 years, Deacon Todd’s experience and wisdom have grown but his philosophy has remained intact: “think, act and talk like Jesus.”
“Deacon Todd walks his faith daily without fanfare. He is one of the most powerful men of God I know,” said OLC parishioner Toni Tupponce. “Deacon Todd is the humblest leader I know. He uses humor when necessary and then ‘tells it like it is.’ He does what he has to do that is right. He tries to stay on the side of the angels, even if he upsets people in the process. He is a leader who is unafraid to speak truth to power. He does not change regardless of who he is talking to.”
Tupponce said she is grateful for Deacon Todd’s continuing service, especially his work advocating for “black cultural inclusion, fairness and equity in the diocese and in our parish.”
“We need him more than ever!” she said.
“If you have ever been in his presence, he just enjoys being with people,” noted Deacon Pickett. “He doesn’t need a whole lot, just a listening ear as he tells you what he thinks. And you better be ready for what he thinks, because it’s not all the time that sweet, good stuff.”
Although Deacon Todd technically retired in 2009, he remains active at OLC by assisting at Mass and delivering homilies, leading workshops and mentoring people – and parishioners and friends say they are grateful he continues to devote his life to the people of God.
“He goes around taking the love of God to those who are in need,” said Deacon Pickett. “He is a wonderful father and grandfather, and he is a man of God. He is a man of integrity. He is the same whether he is in clericals or in bermuda shorts, whether he has on dress shoes or flip-flops. He doesn’t change.”
“The past 30 years have been a growth process here to learn and develop,” Deacon Todd reflected. “I had to learn things about the ministry, about the Church, about the people in the Church, about people not in the Church. All of these are important, but the most important thing learned about was me: how God made me to be. I had to learn that who I was, and what God called me to be, were two different people, totally opposite.
“I had to come to that learning in two primary ways. One, I had to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I had to learn that not only is He my Savior, He is my friend. He leads me, He teaches me. I have to develop that personal relationship with Him and I have to make my every thought, word and deed exactly what He would think. I have to come that close to Him.
“Two, I had to ask God for the gift of the Holy Spirit. That is because Jesus tells us in John’s Gospel that when He leaves He is going to send the Holy Spirit to teach us everything and remind us of all He taught us. What that says to me is if the Holy Spirit has to teach me everything, then I know absolutely nothing. I had to develop that spiritual wisdom, I had to take me out of what I want, what I feel, what I think and what pleases me. I have done both of those things and I do those things daily. As a result, thanks be to God, I am not the same person I was 30 years ago, 20 years ago, 10 years ago – I’m still learning, still developing, still a work in progress.
“The only thing I think God is telling me to do is to live by Jesus and God’s Holy Spirit.”
— Lisa Geraci, Correspondent