Morrison Historical Society welcomes Thomas M. (Mike) Durham, Pastor, U. S. Army Chaplain (Retired), as speaker for its latest community program. He will present a “A Veterans Program” on Sunday, September 17, 2017, at Morrison’s Heritage Museum, 202 E. Lincolnway, Morrison, IL. The museum is open from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., with Pastor Durham speaking at 1:30. Refreshments will follow his program.
He served as an Army Chaplain for over 23 years and offered 35 years of pastoral care to service personnel and their families. He
- performed over 150 military funerals and 300+ weddings
- provided regular home, hospital, and worksite pastoral visits
- conducted countless counseling sessions with individuals, couples, and families.
Pastor Durham is a true man of the South. He was born in Prestonsburg, KY, on June 7, 1956. He was ordained 22 years later, at Forest Hill Baptist Church, in Winston-Salem, NC , in December 1978. In between those years were North Carolina graduations in Jacksonville (1974 high school) and Winston-Salem (1978 university.) Following was attendance at New Orleans[, LA,] Baptist Theological Seminary in 1989.
Next, he developed his pastoral skills at Baptist Churches in North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia from 1975 to 1989. Then, a change in focus occurred: Durham served as Pastor of Protestant Congregations in Army Chapels–in the South and world-wide–until 2012. Locations included
- Fort Bragg, NC
- Fort Riley, KS
- Heidelberg, Germany
- Fort Stewart, GA
- Fort Monroe, VA
- Fort Belvoir, VA
- Camp Red Cloud, Korea
- Cadet Chapel at West Point, NY.
He was called north to Whiteside County, IL, as an Interim Pastor at Maranatha Baptist Church, in Rock Falls, from 2013 to 2014. From the next year until the present, he has been Director of Missions for Sinnissippi Baptist Association, in Sterling IL.
Retired from the Army in 2013, he and his wife settled in Sterling, “to be near our granddaughter and family!”