At the tender age of 16, Curtis C. Lewis, III preached his first sermon entitled “Following Structure” (Proverbs 8:33-36 and Exodus 20:4-17) at Greater Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 1620 Dolly Wright where Curtis C. Lewis, Sr. is the presiding pastor on September 15. The proud parents of this young man is Nafeteria and Curtis C. Lewis, Jr. Pastor Lewis, Sr. and his wife Bernie are the proud grandparents.
Lewis III said his calling to the ministry begin a year ago at home when he was 15-years-old. “I heard something saying, ‘You know what I want you to do,’” he said. But at this moment he tried to ignore it but he couldn’t. “The Lord just kept putting it in my face,” he stated. The months went by and five months later, it happen again. During this time a fellow churchmember stated to him that he was going to be a preacher one day.

On August 4, Lewis III said he was called by the Lord once again. His grandmother recalls, “Curtis came up to me and said ‘Mama, I can’t help myself, I got to preach.’ He couldn’t keep his seat that day. I told him to go tell his grandfather.”
When he went to the front of the church to confess that his calling the church fell silent. “My husband couldn’t say anything at this time. The church was so quiet you can hear a pin drop. At that moment Curtis (III) had a glow on his face I never saw before. I felt cold, but the room was hot. Something happened that day. My husband and I knew he was going to be a preacher but not at the age of 16 - but at 20 years of age,” she continued.

“When I finally told my family they were lost for words. I never told them of the previous times that the Lord was saying something to me. My family was proud, crying and full of joy” said Lewis, III.
As a child, people would often remark to him that there was something special about him. His grandmother continued, “When he was 8 days old, there was something special about him and we gave him back to the Lord. Curtis would always sit around old people and button his shirt up to the last button like a preacher. His third grade teacher told me he would preach one day. I see it, he’s covered in the blood. Curtis would also read the bible when he was younger instead of applying himself in his math. That’s all he knew was going to church and serving the Lord.”
Lewis, III is an active member in the church as the president of the Youth Department.
“I wasn’t really nervous during my first sermon. When I got up there, the nervousness went away. I didn’t know what I was going to preach about until four days before. I looked for something in the Bible and then the Lord put something on my heart,” he said. His friends at school were even more excited for him. “They couldn’t wait to hear my first sermon,” said the junior at Eisenhower High School. He plans to attend North Harris Community College to major in welding after he graduates from high school next year. But for now he will be starting Texas College Biblical Seminary to get his Masters. “I want to go to college to get my degree to follow my dream as a preacher and to study the Lord more. I don’t know what the Lord has in store for me,” he concluded.