The Rev. David Strong, the slain pastor of St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church who may have opened the door to his alleged killers, never met a stranger.
"Whatever you needed, he would try to accommodate," said Dennis Pratt, 51, a lifelong member of the congregation.
He said the pastor's friendship extended not only to church members but to friends of church members who also became "instant friends."
Chonda Moss, 41, a member of St. Paul for the past four years, said Strong embraced her and her daughter, Jazlyn, before they ever became members. In fact, she said, he singled out her daughter who was practicing with the youth liturgical dance team by saying, "I think we have another dancer on our hands."
"That meant a great deal to us," she said.
David Brooks, 39, is not a member of Strong's church but saw him each week as one of the co-founders of the Mentors of the Community program that St. Paul hosted.
"He was always there, always willing to offer a word or prayer," he said. "He would interact with the kids. He even would go to the courthouse with a child who had made a bad mistake."
Brooks said he was a member of Allen Temple A.M.E. when Strong was pastor there in the 1980s. He said the pastor gave him his first Bible as a graduation gift, one he still has.
"He was a very good spiritual leader," he said. "His charisma was able to reach people that clergy normally can't reach. He would welcome anybody and could lead them in a direction without making them feel uncomfortable."
Strong never used his status as a clergyman to intimidate, according to Brooks, who was referred to fondly by the pastor as one of his stepmembers. He met young or old from background to background with equality, he said.
"He always had the same personality whether he sat down with millionaires or homeless people," he said. "He had the same kindheartedness."
Robin Brown, 19, said Strong played a big role in the lives of the youth at St. Paul. He did not turn away from her, as she said some pastors might, when he learned she was pregnant, she said.
"That meant a lot," said the Austin Peay University freshman. "Some preachers would be embarrassed. But when he mentored me the way he did, that uplifted my spirit. It made me look up to him more as a preacher, a mentor and a second father."
Strong was no different in my conversations with him over the years: friendly, welcoming, affirming. He was eager to show me the church on my first visit there. I can still recall sitting in the pews with him on a warm afternoon about this time of year talking about the heritage of St. Paul.
Pratt, though, may have put it best when he described Strong as a beacon of light in a dark world.
"When you're in the darkness, you would look for light," he said, "and it would be him."