Alabama pastor cites prayer as key to ministry

W. Tom Stewart believes an anointing of the Lord and prayer have been the keys to 50 years in ministry. “The most important thing to me is my prayer life,” Stewart said.  “I don’t care what the barrier, it can be broken.”
   
He still remembers committing his life to ministry.
   
The 16-year-old Stewart was attending a tent revival at Golden Acres Baptist Church in his hometown of Pasadena, Texas, in 1950, when he realized God was calling someone in the audience to Christian ministry.
   
But Stewart, who grew up with alcoholic parents, assumed his background disqualified him from preaching and made a commitment to pursue music ministry.
   
That night he had a vivid dream of people falling off a mountain into a deep abyss.
   
He struggled up the mountain screaming and warning climbers of impending disaster, but the people refused to listen.
   
Stewart returned to the revival the following night with the dream fresh in his mind. With the pastor sharing Jesus’ admonition from Matthew 28:19-20 to call out and make disciples and the call of God burning in his heart, Stewart surrendered to the ministry.
   
Impassioned by the thought of the lost dying and spending eternity in hell, Stewart began preaching immediately.
   
His first sermon was to his Boy Scout troop. He gave an invitation, and 23 boys accepted Christ, including the scoutmaster.
   
But the impact of his ministry went beyond his friends. Stewart, who first heard the gospel during Vacation Bible School when he was 9 and made a profession of faith four years later, was most concerned with his parents coming to know Christ.
   
He recalls lying on his back in the fields at night as a youth, gazing at the stars and pleading with God for their salvation. Within a short time, both parents had made commitments to Christ.
   
The family moved to Louisiana and enrolled in New Orleans Seminary. The Stewart family is thought to be the first family to attend the seminary together. 
   
Stewart  and his wife, Virginia, have four children.
   
Throughout his 50 years in ministry, Stewart served as pastor of 17 churches in eight states. He and his family came to Alabama in 1972 to serve at Ninth Avenue Baptist, Birmingham. He was also pastor of New Hope (now Grantswood) Baptist, Birmingham; Grace Baptist, Childersburg; Mt. Hebron Baptist, Leeds; and Mt. Olive Baptist, Talladega. Currently, he is ministering as a supply pastor in the Birmingham area.