Hometown Rankin - February & May 2015

Although the two will wed this month, the proposal
took place in July of 2014 and the videotape of that
special moment has since gone viral with over 50,000
views from all over the world. Ladies, be prepared to
swoon, and men, know that the bar has been set even
higher for the rest of you.
Seth Conerly, a graduate of the University of Mississippi, first
met Taylor Townsend, a graduate of Baylor University, almost two
years ago under circumstances that were nothing short of arranged.
After he graduated college, Seth remembered distinctively being
called to ministry and took a position in Hattiesburg serving at
Venture Church where, coincidentally, his boss happened to be
Taylor’s uncle.
“Taylor’s uncle had several
pictures of her in his house and
I would always look at them when
I was in there and think, ‘Man that’s
a beautiful woman’,” Conerly said.
“On top of that, I began to hear
tidbits about her in conversations
about how godly of a woman she
was and I definitely had my eye
out for her.”
Seth Conerly is what one would
refer to as a “jack of all trades.”
He’s run collegiate cross country,
loves drawing cartoon sketches,
sings, and is very creative at
making videos, a trait he became
known for at Venture Church.
It wasn’t long before Cindy
Townsend, Taylor’s mom, got
wind of his talents and enlisted
his help in making videos for the
Leadership Institute at Jackson
Prep, where she worked.
Throughout that time, Cindy
became impressed with Conerly’s
character and began mentioning
him more and more to Taylor.
“My mom would make
random comments to me about
Seth and say that we needed to
meet,” Taylor said. “She would talk
about how great of a guy he was
and, although I had looked him
up at that point, I told her it
wouldn’t be me that made the first
move. I didn’t think too much
else about it.”
But Seth got wind that Taylor
would be studying abroad in
London the following semester,
so he came up with a plan to meet
her. It would involve his sister,
who had coincidentally also just
studied abroad in London.
Conerly suggested to Taylor’s
mom that while the two of them
42 • February / March 2015