Choir Director, SIP 2025

Elder Dr. Gerald I.F. Curley, affectionately known as “Ian” to the Spring Into Praise Conference is one of the steering committee members for this year’s event. Though he works professionally as a behavioral health executive for the Department of Veteran Affairs, he actively and consistently engages in his passion for music.

 

Ian expressed musical interest and talent at an early age, singing at age 4 and playing piano and organ at age 6. He became church organist for his church, the Burns Church of Seventh-day Adventists at age 14. Upon returning from college and graduate school, he became the youngest Minister of Music & Arts to serve his church, a role he held for 25 years.

 

Though dedicated to his home church, he has always enjoyed sharing his gifts with the body of Christ. At age 17, prior to going to school, he gained his first minister of music position at St. Paul AME Church in Port Huron, MI. While in college he served as church organist for Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Greencastle, IN, guest worship leader for Calvary Unity Methodist Church near Indianapolis, IN, and Director of Music for St. Peter AME Zion Church in Hamtramck, MI. Upon returning to Michigan full-time, he became the Associate Minister of Music for Agape Fellowship of the Savior.

In September 2000, Ian joined the Music Ministry team at First Baptist Institutional Church, serving the Moments of Adulation Praise Team and the Inspirational Young-Adult Choir. As time passed, he became the Minister of Music at FBIC. Maestro served FBIC until July 30, 2011.

 

Ian served as the Pastor of Worship at New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Pontiac, MI from October 2011 to October 2019.

 

In April 2019, divine intervention allowed Ian and FBIC to reunite during his Sabbatical from New Bethel. The Sabbatical ended and Ian elected to stay at FBIC.

 

Aside from ministry within the church, Ian has created several community performance ensembles: Variations, the University Liggett Gospel Choir; the DePauw University Gospel Choir (Greencastle, IN), the Christian Fellowship Chorale of Detroit (an interdenominational aggregation), HIGH PRAISE (a praise and worship ensemble), and The Motor City SDA Mass Choir.  He has performed lead roles in many musical works including Handel's Messiah, Dubois' Seven Last Words of Christ, Poulenc's Gloria, and Orff's Carmina Burana. Ian has directed several great works and productions which include Detroit’s "A Night at the Opera" and one of Detroit's renowned community presentations of Handel's Messiah.

 

Ian began his fellowship with Spring Into Praise, attending the 2008 SIP Conference in Indianapolis, IN. Ian and his 80-voice choir from Detroit Burns Church were so deeply inspired by the 2008 SIP Conference, they volunteered to host the 2009 SIP Conference in Detroit, MI. After hosting a successful conference in Detroit, Ian served as the National Music Director for the first Spring Into Praise Recording which took place at the 2010 SDA General Conference in Atlanta Georgia. Since that time, Ian has continued to serve as a member of the steering committee, supporting the vision of our extraordinary, anointed founder and executive director, Elder Bruce Nelson Seawood.