{"id":18326,"date":"2026-01-22T19:20:41","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T19:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=18326"},"modified":"2026-01-22T19:20:41","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T19:20:41","slug":"the-legacy-of-a-key","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/the-legacy-of-a-key\/","title":{"rendered":"The Legacy of a Key"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Donald Perryman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Rev. Donald L. Perryman, Ph.D.<\/p>\n

The Truth Contributor<\/p>\n

I just like people. Even strangers. I\u2019ve always liked people.<\/em> \u2013 <\/em>Bishop Robert Culp<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When reflecting on more than sixty years as a leader in Toledo, Bishop Robert \u201cBob\u201d Culp rarely talks about power\u2014instead, his example highlights how true leadership unlocks doors for people.<\/p>\n

When the City of Toledo gave him a key to the city on Dr. Martin Luther King\u2019s 97th birthday, the moment felt genuinely fitting, not just ceremonial.<\/p>\n

Bishop Culp has held onto that key for years, both as a tangible symbol and as a representation of his role in helping the community gain access to opportunities and unlocking trust\u2014patiently, not by force.<\/p>\n

As a high school and college athlete who thrived in teamwork and had traveled widely, Culp arrived in Toledo to find his new church weary\u2014four pastors in five years had left the congregation tired and cautious. Told not to move too fast, he listened.<\/p>\n

Earning the Right to Unlock Doors<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like the prophet Ezekiel of the Hebrew scriptures, who \u201csat where the people sat\u201d before speaking, Culp studied the locks before trying to turn any keys.<\/p>\n

For nearly five years, he took a counterintuitive approach for a new pastor: showing up every Sunday, spending weekdays among the people in the city, joining\u2014and eventually leading\u2014the NAACP and the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided I didn\u2019t come here just to see what could be done with a church,\u201d he said. \u201cI came to see how I could guarantee the welfare of a community,\u201d he once told me.<\/p>\n

That posture\u2014patient, relational, low-key\u2014placed him squarely in Dr. King\u2019s lineage. Culp had heard King speak as a college student during the Montgomery Bus Boycott.<\/p>\n

\u201cKing changed our whole perspective,\u201d he recalled. \u201cOur goal ceased to be merely to impact the congregants of our church, but the culture of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. King taught that justice required access, and Culp embodied that by learning who held the doors or guarded the gates\u2014and how to open them while keeping trust.<\/p>\n

First Church, under Culp\u2019s leadership, turned into more than a sanctuary. It became a passageway.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe church is not some isolated place that you show up on Sunday morning,\u201d said Culp. \u201cWhatever the need is in the community\u2014that\u2019s what the church is for. It\u2019s a seven-day-a-week institution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Culp learned that perspective from King, which also helped mold his approach to power. \u201cI thought I had to beat people over the head, but I had to learn the community and then build trust. And when you meet in the church, people are careful about their language. Their ideas are better,\u201d Culp also liked to say.<\/p>\n

In practice, the church became a site of access, not authority\u2014a hub for real connection, not a place for loud talk and flexing power.<\/p>\n

Simply stated, Culp, as Dr. King did, understood that injustice endures not just through exclusion but through restricted access to opportunity, information, and influence. Culp didn\u2019t storm the gates; he stayed until they opened.<\/p>\n

The Quietest Doors Are the Hardest to Open<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yet some of the most important doors Culp opened had nothing to do with institutions.<\/p>\n

One of his quietest stories is about Paul, a struggling addict who once gave Culp $700 so he wouldn\u2019t spend it on drugs. When Paul later demanded it back, Culp feared for his safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was getting ready to jump out the window,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n

Yet, he refused to give Paul the money\u2014and refused to abandon him.<\/p>\n

Paul then became one of his closest friends.<\/p>\n

That story, perhaps, most epitomizes Culp\u2019s ministry: he saw potential where others saw liability.<\/p>\n

He often said he had a fondness for \u201cdown-and-out folks\u2014and up-and-out folks too.\u201d Judges, executives, addicts, janitors, students\u2014all were met the same way.<\/p>\n

He stayed at the door long after services, greeting people even in retirement. Once, preaching in Detroit, he skipped dinner with the host pastor to shake more hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got to know your people if I\u2019m going to preach to them again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Legacy of a Key<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. King gave us a dream of access to opportunity, dignity, and full citizenship.<\/p>\n

Bishop Robert Culp showed Toledo what it looks like to live that dream. He stayed, listened deeply, and cared consistently enough so that doors began to open.<\/p>\n

The key Toledo placed in his hand by Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz affirmed a legacy earned, not bestowed. It was a symbol.<\/p>\n

The real keys?
\nThey are the trust he built, the doors he opened, and the lives Bishop Culp changed.<\/p>\n

Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, PhD, at <\/em>drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rev. Donald L. Perryman, Ph.D. The Truth Contributor I just like people. Even strangers. I\u2019ve always liked people. \u2013 Bishop Robert Culp   When reflecting on more than sixty years as a leader in Toledo, Bishop Robert \u201cBob\u201d Culp rarely talks about power\u2014instead, his example highlights how true leadership unlocks doors for people. When […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,252],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[331],"class_list":["post-18326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial-opinion","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18326"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18327,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18326\/revisions\/18327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18326"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=18326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}