Darian Duckworth is a different kind of doctor
When Reverend Dr. Darian Duckworth was growing up, she never imagined that she would be a pastor, despite her draw to ministry. But after many twists and turns in life, Duckworth became the pastor at First United Methodist Church in West Point, where she has been serving both her congregation and community. Over the past seven years, she has been helping West Point with healing from grief, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I went into pre-med originally, even though I grew up preaching to my stuffed animals, and interacting with faith, and walking with God,” said Duckworth. “But I just felt like, in order to take care of people, I had to be a doctor.”
Duckworth is originally from Monticello, but grew up in Jackson for most of her childhood. After graduating from high school, she moved to Nashville to attend Vanderbilt University for her undergraduate degree. She originally double majored in Math and English as part of Vanderbilt's premed program, never guessing that she would go into full-time ministry.
However, once she started the premed program, Duckworth became conflicted. She knew she wanted to care for others, but did not feel like medicine was a good fit for her. By her senior year of college, Duckworth started seriously considering going into ministry full-time. However, she still hesitated when it came to working as a pastor.
“I had always felt some call to ministry, but I didn't want to preach or be in a church. I didn't want to be on staff in a church,” Duckworth said, ironically. “But I found my way to the Methodist church and started seeing what it could really look like… And I ended up going through the Methodist ordination process.”
Duckworth attended Emory College for seminary and went through the Methodist ordination process. By 2007, she had graduated and was appointed to her first church in Natchez, where she pastored a church of 80 people. It was there that she discovered her passion for comforting others through grief.
“The first church I was in, I was there for five years. And in those five years, I preached 40 funerals. Most of those were in the church, but the funeral home became familiar with me, and they started knowing that they could call me if someone didn't have a pastor to preach a funeral. I was drawn to sitting with people and learning how to be a comfort in that space between life and death,” Duckworth said.
In 2012, Duckworth was appointed to a church in Cleveland in the Delta, where she was responsible for pastoring two churches. One was a similar size to her church in Natchez, but the other was much smaller.
“I had two churches in Cleveland,” said Duckworth. “One of them only had six members and a skunk that visited every year at Easter. It was fantastic. It was the smallest church I've ever pastored. But that was one of the most holy groups of people I've ever met.”
But by 2016, Duckworth felt ready for a change in pace. She wanted to pursue her doctorate degree, which would require her to pastor a church closer to Mercer University in Atlanta. At the same time, First Methodist Church in West Point was in need of a new pastor, as the former pastor was entering semi-retirement.
Duckworth was appointed to
the West Point church and started pursuing her doctorate in hospice and end of life care. When Duckworth moved to West Point, she found the transition to her new church seamless.
“I love the people of West Point. They're just fantastic,” said Duckworth. “People in West Point really love their town. I've experienced that in other places I've lived too, but it's just a deep investment in this place… There is so much commitment, and people are fighting to bring industry back here because they love their home.”
By 2020, Duckworth received her doctorate in hospice and end of life care, making her officially a Reverend Doctor. She coincidentally finished her three years of study right at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and graduated with her doctorate degree over Zoom. Immediately, she had an unexpected use for her degree.
“No one ever envisioned what happened with COVID, but I remember thinking, ‘what do I do with all of this study and research that I've been doing?' And what I realized is that everyone, including the other pastors I was talking to, all felt like they were now in hospice care,” said Duckworth. “I thought it would help me with leading congregations in how to care for people who are grieving… but it became more about walking an entire community through grief.”
Duckworth was grateful to be able to support her church throughout the pandemic, and has now been their pastor for seven years. She is excited for what the future holds for the church now that the pandemic is over and more public service opportunities are opening up.
When she is not preaching in her church, Duckworth enjoys many activities in her free time. She enjoys getting to play guitar and piano, practicing and leading Christian yoga, and writing. She also loves reading, including historical fiction. She has also recently discovered a love for pour-over coffee.
“I still have my Keurig, but the first time I made pour-over coffee, I thought ‘oh no. I've ruined it for myself,'” said Duckworth. “If I could have any other job in life, I would love to be a professional coffee taster who writes the labels on different kinds of coffee.”
If you see Duckworth in town, be sure to say hello.