As Tommy Chesser approaches the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the ministry, he said one thing means more to him than anything — the people in his churches who came to know the Lord.
“The greatest thing is just looking back and seeing the people who accepted Christ as their Savior,” he said. “At every church where I served, we had people who came to know Jesus.”
Chesser, who has served as pastor of Raimund Heights Baptist Church, Bessemer, for the past 11 years, was ordained in 1967 by Pastor A.B. Payne at Anderson Memorial Baptist Church, Lipscomb. He attended Clarke College in Mississippi and served as pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Lena, Mississippi, before transferring to Samford University in Birmingham to continue his studies.
Chesser also attended New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and went on to serve several Alabama Baptist churches as pastor — Cahaba Heights Baptist, Birmingham; Hollins Baptist; Pleasant Grove Baptist, Carbon Hill; Bethesda Baptist, Equality; and Robinwood Baptist, Birmingham.
He served as the director of Child Evangelism Fellowship of North Central Alabama from 1980 to 1990.
“I’m planning to keep serving the Lord as long as I can,” he said.
Chesser’s congregation at Raimund Heights will be hosting a celebration for him Sept. 10, 2–4 p.m. (Grace Thornton)
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