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Called By God
In Beaumont, Tunkhannock, and Montrose in northeastern Pennsylvania, Jessie
Weiss Curtis was the Holy Spirit’s instrument to raise up congregations. She preached
in tents, at the same time conducting countless Bible studies. After groups were formed,
she raised money for and supervised the building of houses of worship.
Mrs. Curtis officiated at the first quarterly meeting and communion service held in
the Tunkhannock Seventh-day Adventist Church on April 10, 1943. (From “Historical
Sketch of Tunkhannock Seventh-day Adventist Church,” in the program for the Dedication
Services of the Tunkhannock Seventh-day Adventist Church on October 11, 1975.)
Joan Davis with her parents accepted Adventism through Jessie Weiss Curtis’
preaching in the community of Montrose. Mrs. Davis emphasized that Mrs. Curtis
communicated the truths of salvation in words that were clear and easy to understand,
even for a child.
Bible booksellers often passed on to Mrs. Curtis names of people willing to study the
Bible; such interests she followed up faithfully. Often she was able to assemble such
people to study the Bible in one of their homes. This could add stimulation for the
participants as well as allow efficient use of time for the evangelist.
The church raised up in Montrose, like the others founded by Jessie Curtis, was thoroughly grounded in Adventist doctrine.
Even so, the legacy given to her converts went beyond what is commonly understood
as doctrinal correctness. The evangelist-pastor taught love and compassion by her daily
life. For one thing, she was always attuned to the members’ needs. When she was evangelist-pastor at Montrose, her congregation consisted mainly of poor farm people.
Sometimes as Mrs. Curtis shook hands at the door after the worship service, she unobtrusively slipped a 10- or 20-dollar bill into the hand of a member who was hanging by a
thread of faith through a financial crisis. The person would marvel, “How did she know
that’s exactly what I needed to pay the bill?”
She was careful, though, to exercise her generosity in such a discreet way that it was
not demeaning.
When nurturing people toward Adventist truth and practice, Jessie Curtis showed
wisdom and caring. If she visited poor people’s homes where meat and eggs were part of
the diet, she did not immediately ask them to go to a strict vegetarian diet for which they
did not have the resources. She made clear the distinctions between clean and unclean
meats and spoke about the body as God’s temple. However, she didn’t say, “You have to
give up beef now,” or “You mustn’t eat an egg.” A very good and faithful Adventist, she
did not exhibit extremism. Interview of Jack and Joan Davis with the writer, 1984.
Jessie’s happy marriage to John Curtis ended after only five years when Mr. Curtis
died. Later a union conference president who was a widower visited the home frequently
and would have liked to marry Jessie, but she did not choose to marry again.
However, Jessie Weiss Curtis was no “loner.” “I could never live alone,” she said.
Not beset with the financial problems that dogged some other women ministers, and
men as well, Mrs. Curtis was able and willing to use her beautiful home in Lehman,
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