(This week The Columbian-Progress spotlights East Columbia Baptist Church Pastor Tim Morrison.)
Q: When and where were you born?
A: I was born in Birmingham, Ala., Sept. 26, 1960.
Q: Where did you attend school?
A: I went to Huffman High School in Birmingham and went to Samford University, then I went to New Orleans Theological Seminary.
Q: Where do you work? Tell us about your job/company.
A: I’m the pastor at East Columbia Baptist Church, and I was called to pastor here almost eight years ago. My job is to shepherd and oversee the flock at East Columbia Baptist Church. Day-to-day I’m busy visiting with the folks and overseeing programs.
Q: What led you to your profession?
A: The Lord led me to become a pastor. I grew up in a strong church in Birmingham and went through the ministries there. I was a leader in some of the ministries as I grew up there. My first paying job was actually cutting grass at my home church; it was a very large church. I’ve been through all kinds of positions in churches throughout my life, and it’s just led one step into another. In high school is when I began to sense God’s calling on my life. I was very involved with the music ministry, especially, at my home church, and I enjoyed being in the choirs and programming there. As I went through the youth group there, our youth minister and the folks in the church encouraged me. The Lord used them to do that.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your job?
A: People. I enjoy ministering to and with people in their challenges and joys of life. They encourage me even more than I encourage them.
Q: What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
A: Having grown up in the church, there’s a lot of tradition in churches and religion. One of the challenges nowadays is to help people realize that church is not a religion, but it’s about a relationship with Christ. That changes, but the message of Christ stays the same. The methods that we make Him known change. The greatest challenge is to bring the church along into contemporary society.
Q: What is the most important lesson you have learned in your career?
A: That God is faithful. Through whatever He takes us through, He’s faithful to guide us through. Through relationships and challenges in life, God is faithful. He was faithful yesterday and will be faithful tomorrow.
Q: When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: Actually I wanted to be a gospel quartet singer. The church I grew up in, we had a lot of gospel singing all night. My parents took me to those, and I fell asleep in many of the seats in the auditoriums.
Q: Who are the people who have been most influential in your life?
A: Of course my wife, Teresa, first of all. She is my joy and my greatest supporter. I’ve had teachers throughout my school experience, and I had pastor friends especially that encouraged me.
Q: Do you have children?
A: I have three children. Susie Beth is our oldest, and she lives in Birmingham with her family and our four grandchildren. Mary Catherine is a junior at William Carey, and Preston is a freshman at Pearl River Community College.
Q: If you could have anything for your last meal on earth, what would it be?
A: My wife is the best cook I’ve ever enjoyed, but short of saying anything that she would fix I would say steak and potatoes.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
A: Europe because I like the architecture, the old-world setting there and love the scenery. I went there in college when I was in a choir, and we were there for two weeks. It was just enough to whet my appetite. I’d love to go back and see it all.
Q: What do you enjoy about Columbia and Marion County?
A: It’s a small town, but it has big-city ideas and dreams. The way programs and activities we’ve enjoyed, especially in the last couple of years, help to show off the community that it’s not just a small town but just has a small-town feel with big ideas. I like that.
Q: If you could have lunch with anyone from your life or history, who would it be and why?
A: We’ve been going through a series recently about John the Baptist. Not that I would want to eat what he ate (locusts and wild honey), but I would want to sit down and get his vision and his excitement about his purpose in life. He was one who really believed in his purpose, and he stuck with it all the way through.
Q: What moment in your life has had the biggest impact on who you are today?
A: Of course the day I received Christ as my savior is the most important day in my life without question. Then the day I married my wife because my life changed for a whole lot better.
Q: What is one thing you want to do that you’ve never tried?
A: I grew up water skiing, but I was thinking about this the other day. I saw something the other day of snow skiers doing the jumps and tricks, and I would love to be able to do something like that. So extreme skiing.
Q: Using one word for each, what are your top three morals?
A: Purity, integrity and love.
Q: How would you like to be remembered?
A: As one who pointed people to Christ. That’s how I would like to be remembered.
— Joshua Campbell
Pictured Above: East Columbia Baptist Church Pastor Tim Morrison said he always knew that he wanted his career to be a part of the church, but it wasn’t until high school that he felt the calling to become a pastor. Prior to that, he said that he wanted to be a gospel quartet singer. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
