New pastor working to spread the word

Dr. Curtiss Davis is an evangelist first and a pastor second.

Davis, who began preaching at Sidney's First Christian Church at the beginning of August hopes to draw more people to his congregation.

"Many times people wonder why nobody's coming to the church and you ask them who have you invited and they haven't invited anyone," Davis said. "I would invite everyone to come and check it out and see what is so exciting at First Christian Church."

He reaches out to all the people he meets.

"I talk about the Lord with everybody," Davis said. "Without question, he is my favorite person to talk about."

Davis, who moved to Sidney from Syracuse, Neb., grew up in Louisville, Neb., and then attended college in the South.

Davis visited Sidney and preached at the church located on 13th Avenue several times before deciding to take the job here.

"There's this God, and once upon a time he called me to serve him, and I told him I would and I would go wherever he took me," Davis said. "This time he took me to greater metropolitan Sidney."

The church needed someone, so he decided to fill that need.

"I enjoy western Nebraska's scenery and people," Davis said.

The pastor was familiar with the panhandle from working on ranches in the area during his younger days.

"Sidney is a growing community," Davis said. "There is a vibrancy about it. I enjoy it."

So far, Davis has enjoyed his time in Sidney.

"It's not hard for me to have fun with the people of the church and it's not difficult for me to have fun around Sidney either," Davis said. "I've met a lot of just good people in the area."

Davis is not the kind of man who calmly stands at the pulpit delivering his sermon.

"My style of preaching is different than a lot of denominational pastors in that I preach with a lot of passion, a lot of humor, a lot of zeal," Davis said.

The First Christian Church holds three meetings per week – Sunday services at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. and a Bible study and prayer meeting on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m.

During this Sunday night's service, Davis will share his personal testimony about how he believes his prayers saved his wife from injury during a severe motorcycle accident in 2008, which left him in a wheelchair for years.

"We hit a white-tail doe at about 70 mph on a motorcycle," Davis said. "And I'm going to be sharing that story and how the Lord blessed us through that experience."

Davis describes his preaching style as a little different than others who share his calling.

"I preach the gospel from the bible, not from the traditions of a denomination or a church," Davis said. "But from the word of God and that Bible is central to my faith."

Davis, who has been a member of the Christian Motorcyclists Association since 2006, enjoys riding his Triumph Rocket III Touring.