(July 6, 2017) Rev. Harvey Davis appreciates there are some calls you simply have to answer.
After spending several decades as housing and zoning coordinator in Pocomoke City, Davis, 63, is stepping away to become the fulltime pastor at Shiloh Baptist Church in Atlantic, Virginia.
“What I plan to do now is solely ministry,” he said. “That entails me serving my congregation in every area.”
Davis, a native of Parskley, Virginia, came on board in Pocomoke to handle code enforcement duties in 1993.
“I was a people person and thoroughly loved my job,” he said. “I did it with the consciousness that you’ve got to treat people the way I would want to be treated.”
That same altruistic spirit eventually caused Davis to syphon his energy in another direction.
“I started pastoring about 18 years ago and working the job as well,” he said.
Based on the variety of professional ventures undertaken on his journey down life’s road, wearing a multitude of hats is familiar ground for Davis.
A graduate of Parksley High School in 1972, Davis attended Norfolk State University after receiving a scholarship to play baseball. He graduated in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and accepted a position with Maple Shade Youth & Family Services in Mardela Springs.
“I worked with juvenile delinquents right out of college,” he said. “It was fine, but working with children you have to have a lot of patience.”
At the same time Davis was occupied raising a family with his wife, Suzette, and their two young children, Patina and Harvey Jr.
“I met her when I was in high school,” he said. “I’ve been married for 40 years.”
Departing from Maple Shade after two years, Davis shifted gears and went to work for the Dresser Equipment Group in Salisbury.
“They produced gas pumps and I worked there as material analyst for a couple of years,” he said. “That set me up to work at NASA for ten years as a material analyst at Wallops [Flight Facility].”
During that time Davis also enlisted and spent 20 years serving with the Army National Guard, starting in 1981.
As if working for Pocomoke, along with military obligations and pastoral duties, wasn’t enough to fill his time, at one point Davis took on yet another role.
“I was director of the Salvation Army Club, so I had four jobs at one time,” he said.
More recently, Davis said he wanted to narrow his focus, but not before expanding his knowledge.
“About five years ago I said, ‘I really want to become a pastor that has credentials,’” he said. “The door opened for me to get a masters in theology over at Virginia Union [University] in Richmond.”
Amazingly, Davis was able to juggle his role as housing coordinator in Pocomoke while attending graduate school.
“My boss was loyal and let me get off every Friday to make that trip and come back on Monday,” he said.
Since graduating from Virginia Union last year, Davis increasingly felt his heart being pulled away from his job with Pocomoke City.
“I wasn’t task-oriented anymore,” he said. “The only thing that was on my mind was ministry.”
Davis said he is grateful for the professional courtesy extended by recently departed City Manager/City Attorney Ernie Crofoot and Mayor Bruce Morrison while he wrestled with following his religious calling.
“They respected me enough if I wanted to stay and they kind of waited on me,” he said. “The calling was stronger to really follow my passion and I finally went in and told my boss, Mr. Crofoot.”
Walking away from his role became far easier for Davis when Pocomoke hired Dan Brandewie as the director of planning, housing and zoning in June.
“I don’t think you could have gotten a better candidate than Dan,” he said. “Dan has been working with automation and working with other pieces, you know writing grants, which is something I didn’t do. I thought it was a step up and a plus for my position.”
Moving forward, Davis is relieved to be singularly focused on a variety of pastoral duties.
“Many times I felt I did the ministry a disservice because I wasn’t there because I was bi-vocational,” he said. “There were a lot of [hospital] patients I could have visited and a lot of funerals I could have attended. It was like the Lord telling me this is not where you should be.”
After spending several decades as housing and zoning coordinator in Pocomoke City, Davis, 63, is stepping away to become the fulltime pastor at Shiloh Baptist Church in Atlantic, Virginia.
“What I plan to do now is solely ministry,” he said. “That entails me serving my congregation in every area.”
Davis, a native of Parskley, Virginia, came on board in Pocomoke to handle code enforcement duties in 1993.
“I was a people person and thoroughly loved my job,” he said. “I did it with the consciousness that you’ve got to treat people the way I would want to be treated.”
That same altruistic spirit eventually caused Davis to syphon his energy in another direction.
“I started pastoring about 18 years ago and working the job as well,” he said.
Based on the variety of professional ventures undertaken on his journey down life’s road, wearing a multitude of hats is familiar ground for Davis.
A graduate of Parksley High School in 1972, Davis attended Norfolk State University after receiving a scholarship to play baseball. He graduated in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and accepted a position with Maple Shade Youth & Family Services in Mardela Springs.
“I worked with juvenile delinquents right out of college,” he said. “It was fine, but working with children you have to have a lot of patience.”
At the same time Davis was occupied raising a family with his wife, Suzette, and their two young children, Patina and Harvey Jr.
“I met her when I was in high school,” he said. “I’ve been married for 40 years.”
Departing from Maple Shade after two years, Davis shifted gears and went to work for the Dresser Equipment Group in Salisbury.
“They produced gas pumps and I worked there as material analyst for a couple of years,” he said. “That set me up to work at NASA for ten years as a material analyst at Wallops [Flight Facility].”
During that time Davis also enlisted and spent 20 years serving with the Army National Guard, starting in 1981.
As if working for Pocomoke, along with military obligations and pastoral duties, wasn’t enough to fill his time, at one point Davis took on yet another role.
“I was director of the Salvation Army Club, so I had four jobs at one time,” he said.
More recently, Davis said he wanted to narrow his focus, but not before expanding his knowledge.
“About five years ago I said, ‘I really want to become a pastor that has credentials,’” he said. “The door opened for me to get a masters in theology over at Virginia Union [University] in Richmond.”
Amazingly, Davis was able to juggle his role as housing coordinator in Pocomoke while attending graduate school.
“My boss was loyal and let me get off every Friday to make that trip and come back on Monday,” he said.
Since graduating from Virginia Union last year, Davis increasingly felt his heart being pulled away from his job with Pocomoke City.
“I wasn’t task-oriented anymore,” he said. “The only thing that was on my mind was ministry.”
Davis said he is grateful for the professional courtesy extended by recently departed City Manager/City Attorney Ernie Crofoot and Mayor Bruce Morrison while he wrestled with following his religious calling.
“They respected me enough if I wanted to stay and they kind of waited on me,” he said. “The calling was stronger to really follow my passion and I finally went in and told my boss, Mr. Crofoot.”
Walking away from his role became far easier for Davis when Pocomoke hired Dan Brandewie as the director of planning, housing and zoning in June.
“I don’t think you could have gotten a better candidate than Dan,” he said. “Dan has been working with automation and working with other pieces, you know writing grants, which is something I didn’t do. I thought it was a step up and a plus for my position.”
Moving forward, Davis is relieved to be singularly focused on a variety of pastoral duties.
“Many times I felt I did the ministry a disservice because I wasn’t there because I was bi-vocational,” he said. “There were a lot of [hospital] patients I could have visited and a lot of funerals I could have attended. It was like the Lord telling me this is not where you should be.”