Church Leaders
Each month, Birmingham Christian Family highlights a local church leader who is making a difference in our community. Church on the Bluff’s Pastor Tony Barber has been leading the Bluff Park congregation for nearly 20 years but felt the call to preach when he was just 12 years old.
1. What did your journey look like to your current position in ministry? After attending an E.J. Daniel’s tent revival in Leeds, Ala. when I was 12 years old, I told my dad that I thought God was calling me to be a preacher. 19 years later, I publicly responded to that call. I was working at WTVY-TV in Dothan, and they were gracious enough to work with my schedule so that I could attend Baptist Bible Institute, in Graceville, Fla. (now Baptist University of Florida). I was called to my first church, Camp Springs Baptist in Columbia, Ala., and ordained in March of 1986. I’ve pastored churches in Slocomb and Moody, Ala., and began my ministry at Church on the Bluff in 2006.
2. Is there a particular person or life experience that impacted your decision to be a minister? My dad, Dan Barber, began bi-vocational preaching when I was in my early teens. I wasn’t thrilled with the “Preacher’s Kid” life, especially when he moved us from Vincent, Ala. a few weeks before my senior year so that he could attend the same Baptist Bible Institute that I would attend myself years later. I rebelled in some serious ways. I learned a lot from him. I saw him make some very tough decisions simply because it was God’s will. Dad taught me one thing that has always guided me and affected my ministry: “People will overlook an occasional bad sermon, but they will not overlook bad pastoring.” I learned that I wasn’t being called to be a preacher, I was called to be a pastor. Preaching is a vital part of pastoring people, but it is not the only thing.
3. How would you describe your church family? I tell folks that I pastor a MEGA church (Mostly, if not Entirely, Geriatric Adults). We are, in general, an older congregation, but that is changing. We have several younger families now and we are encouraged by their presence. We are conservative in doctrine, still have a choir, sing hymns (the words are on the screen, but they are also in the hymnbook if you like holding a book as you sing), and we still call our Bible study classes, “Sunday School.”
4. What is one thing you would like us to know about your congregation? I’ve had so many people tell me that when thy entered the building for the first time they felt at home. This congregation genuinely loves people, and it is obvious they do. Pay us a visit and you’ll see what I mean.
– Learn more about churches in our area, including Church on the Bluff, at www.BirminghamChristian.com/findachurch. Are you or do you know a Church Leader in Central Alabama we should feature? Click here to complete the Church Leader Q&A.
