By PHOEBE ROBINSON/Community Columnist

Brother Tom Minor recently resigned as pastor of South Shelby Baptist Church.

“God led me to resign, not retire, but I am available to whatever God leads me to as a 71-year-old man,” said Minor. “I felt it was time for a younger pastor to take over. And here I sit waiting on God.”

Minor has deep roots in Shelby County. His maternal third great-grandfather Moses Brasher came to Shelby County in the early 1800s. His paternal great-grandfather John Minor moved to Shelby County pre-Civil War.

Today, Minor lives in the home that his paternal grandparents Thomas and Ellen Niven Minor bought in 1932 on Main Street, where Minor grew up with his parents Thomas and Drucilla Brasher Minor.

Minor graduated from Shelby County High School in 1959 and UAB in 1963 the same year he married wife Susan. Son Tim was born in 1966 and premature twins Terry and Alice in 1968, an event that forever changed Minor’s life.

“I was away from God,” said Minor. “I saw those tiny babies and knew I could not do anything to help them, it was up to God. I was saved in Columbiana but came back to God after the twins’ birth.”

For the next 30 years, Minor became a bi-vocational preacher, working a job and serving God, especially children’s ministries. In 1998, Minor was called to be the interim, then full-time pastor at First Baptist Church of Shelby, where his great-grandfather Roy Reece Brasher preached.

From there, God led Minor and 28 people to plant the South Shelby Baptist Church, which exploded with growth. The church began in the old Shelby Elementary School’s gym, grew and moved to Kingdom Baptist Church on Shelby County 61. Growing more, the church bought its campus on Shelby County 145 with 17 acres in 2001, added a steeple and fellowship hall with 450 members today.

On Dec. 30, 2012, the church had a reception for Minor’s last day as pastor. Minor has followed God’s call for the last 45 years and trusts Him to lead him in the future — wherever that may be.

 

Phoebe Donald Robinson can be reached by email at phoeberobinson@bellsouth.net.