Houston Park Church of Christ minister Tom McLemore has been with the church 18 years now.

The Nashville native said he always knew that being a minister and servant to a church was what he would do for the rest of his life, and he has traveled around the south spreading the Good News.

“We moved here from Ridgeland, Mississippi, right outside of Jackson.” he said. “Before that, we were in Huntsville, and before that, we were in Tennessee.”

McLemore said he grew up in the church, and preaching enabled him to utilize his talent for talking.

“I’m sure I was always talking when I was a kid,” he said. “I came to realize that talking might be a talent I could use for serving the Lord.”

He received a Bachelor’s degree from International Bible College in 1983, a Master of Divinity degree in 1990, and a Doctor of Ministry degree in 2009 from Harding School of Theology in Memphis.

McLemore said he is convinced that belief in, and obedience to, God’s word makes the biggest difference in people’s lives.

“About everything I do is geared toward that.   I believe that if people would study and obey the Bible, they would behave in such a way that their lives would be better,” he said. “Practically speaking, I think we here at Houston Park try to model a way towards happiness by serving God.  We of course encourage people to do that publicly and not just to themselves.

“We have members from all walks of life and all parts of town,” he said. “They are all colors and ethnic backgrounds. We have some members who are prominent in business.”

McLemore said that he encourages people to serve God in the way they treat others.

McLemore also said that the church emphasizes the New Testament.

“The Churches of Christ are all about the New Testament,” he said. “If there is one thing that we are trying to stress, it is that we need to be governed by the New Testament rather than by our own ideas or the ideas of man.  If we didn’t emphasize that, there wouldn’t be any purpose for our existence. That is the basis of our message to the world.

“We don’t owe anything to any man or human ideas,” he said. “Our reason for being in this community is to call people to go back to the New Testament and to be New Testament Christians.  That is what we are all about. That includes practicing Christian love, sharing the good news of Jesus, and believing and practicing everything you find in the New Testament.”

He has been married to his wife, Denise, for 42 years.

“It will be 43 years in December,” Tom McLemore said.

Denise teaches Bible classes, and supervises the Primary Department.  She also recruits teachers and procures literature for the classes.

“We have been here for 18 years,” he said. “We were young people when we came here.  We had been married for 24 years when we came here.   We have lived nearly half of our married lives in Selma.  We have never been happier anywhere than we are here.  We have never stayed anywhere this long, either. We love these people, and they are so good and kind and supportive to us. We just can’t conceive of being anywhere else.”

Tom said the Bible passage that directs him the most is Matthew 28:18-20.

“That is what directs me to do what I do,” he said. “Just to try and make disciples of Jesus, and that is what Jesus taught his original disciples to do.  I probably refer to that passage more than to any other.”

Tom McLemore also goes to Cedar Hill Assisted Living to provide entertainment and devotionals to residents.  He has been doing this for 16 years. 

He also sells books through the American Book Exchange.

He and Denise have three children Jon, Amy, and Mark.