Rev. Elizabeth C. Few

News Obituary Article

ATLANTA: Elizabeth Few, 74, pioneering minister

By DERRICK HENRY

When the Rev. Elizabeth C. Few stepped into a pulpit, the former Atlanta schoolteacher radiated inspiration.

"She was an icon who was in great demand as a speaker because she was very, very articulate," said Lee Waller of Roswell, who was married by the Rev. Few.

"She had such preciseness about her, framing her message in terms of today's challenges. She knew how to get people's attention and keep it focused on her subject.'

In 1992, the Smithsonian Institution chose her as one of its Pioneer Women in Ministry, preserving a sermon of hers at its Anacostia Museum & Center for African-American History and Culture.

"She was the type of person who made you want to be a Christian," said her friend Gloria Poe of Atlanta.

Elizabeth Campbell Few, 74, of Atlanta died Wednesday of kidney failure at Wesley Woods. The funeral will be at 1 p.m. Monday at Allen Temple AME Church. Hines Home of Funerals is in charge of arrangements.

The Rev. Few began serving as associate pastor of New Hope AME Church in Buckhead in the late 1980s.

Before she was ordained, she often was invited to give motivational speeches at community and church functions. She always was well received. But that changed somewhat after her ordination.

When Elizabeth Few showed up to speak as the Rev. Few, some male pastors disapproved, said her daughter Melanie Few of Atlanta.

"Ministers have uninvited her on the spot, but she never gave up," her daughter said. "There was one church where the minister said she could not speak at a scheduled ceremony, but the women of the church pleaded with him not to embarrass them.

"He let it happen, and she preached about the encounter between Jesus and the woman at the well. During the sermon the minister cried and cried and said afterward it had changed him."

At a Woman's Day ceremony at St. John Baptist Church in Atlanta in 1990, the Rev. Few's talk was delayed because someone had set off a canister of mace. She was unfazed, saying that obstacles are to be expected in life, but one shouldn't be deterred by them.

She lived by those words.

The Atlanta native grew up poor in the city's Blandtown community, wearing the same dress to school day after day.

She was the first member of her family to attend college and earned her way through Clark College by working as a beautician on weekends.

She often experimented on herself. The first time she met her future husband, Moses C. Few, she had orange hair. The second time she met him her hair was back to its natural black, and he didn't recognize her.

After graduating from Clark, the Rev. Few began a 32-year career in the Atlanta public schools, first as an elementary school teacher and later as a reading specialist. She won several teacher of the year awards.

She retired in 1987 and enrolled the next year at the Interdenominational Theological Seminary, earning a master's of divinity degree in 1991.

At New Hope AME Church, the Rev. Few was director of Christian education, and she ran a summer camp for disadvantaged children.

In 1980, she wrote a history of the historic church, built on land willed to freed slaves in 1872. She also took missionary trips to Brazil, Africa and Jerusalem.

The Rev. Few found time to be a mother to two daughters: Millicent "Lisa" Few, an attorney and executive director of human resources for Atlanta Public Schools, and Melanie Few, who owns an entertainment marketing firm, Results Inc.

"My sister and I have very different personalities," said Melanie Few. "She was the honor student, I was the social butterfly. But my mother loved us for our uniqueness and pushed us toward our individual dreams. She got behind us 100 percent."

The Atlanta City Council declared Aug. 31, 2002, as Rev. Elizabeth Few Day in the city of Atlanta.

In addition to her two daughters, survivors include her husband and two brothers, Arthur Campbell and Eugene Campbell, both of Atlanta.

© 2005 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution