A native of South Carolina, Barbery began preaching when he was 20 years old.

“I entered the ministry because I felt the call from the Lord,” he said in an interview Wednesday. “I didn’t go into it as a vocation.”

The call led him from pulpits in his home state to Beulah Baptist Church, the Bennett place of worship where he pastored for 40 years.

He went on to serve as interim pastor at Beulah Hill Baptist Church in West End and at First Baptist Church of Carthage. Since 2016, he has delivered semiweekly sermons as the interim pastor at Crossroads Baptist Church.

Barbery said he has tried throughout his 65-year career in ministry to “always treat people nice.”

“I respect everybody,” he said. “And if you show respect, you’ll get respect.”