Longtime Pastor Earl Tew remembered

After a life spent pastoring five churches and helping lead an association of churches, perhaps it is no surprise that everyone loved Earl Tew, his daughter, Delane, said.

Still, while his three kids were certainly aware — and at times active — in their father’s ministry, he was more than a pastor to them, she said.

“To us, he was dad,” Delane said. 

Tew, who lived in Vestavia Hills, died April 26 at 93 years old. In his long life of ministry, he pastored Goodman Baptist Church, Pinckard Baptist Church, Lakeside Baptist Church, Calvary Baptist Church in Dothan and First Baptist Church of Hoover. He also served as executive director of the Birmingham Baptist Association for 12 years. After retiring from full-time ministry, Tew went back to Lakeside as minister to senior adults in 2007, then retired again in 2010.

Tew did not simply preach about a Christian life, but he lived it out, his daughter said.

“He lived out his Christian beliefs in everything he did and wanted to help us any way he could.”

Tew’s son David said his father was always clear about what he thought and was also an “attentive and loving father,” like so many men of his generation.

“We never lacked for attention,” David said.

David said Tew’s children “certainly grew up familiar with church.” Delane said church “really was home” for them as they witnessed their father preaching and helping others.

For a few hours when he was a toddler, church literally became home for David. The family had gone home and the church had been locked up, but in a story straight out of the Bible, David was still in the building.

“I was just delighted to be left alone at church,” David said. “I built towers out of hymnals.”

Tew was passionate about growing the church and sharing the gospel. He led mission trips to Brazil, Romania, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, Canada and Panama and also served on the board of directors of the International Missions Board of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). At the local level, he led the Birmingham Baptist Association in a ministry partnership with sister churches in Birmingham, England.

During his ministry, Tew would be notified anytime a new water meter was turned on in the area, said his son Mark. Tew would drive over and greet the new resident and invite them to church.

“In the late ‘50s, early ‘60s, he would have long conversations with the milkman about who was new in the community,” Delane said.

In addition to being a pastor to several congregations, Tew was a “pastor to the pastors,” his children said. He also left a legacy for his children to follow. Delane went to Japan as a missionary and previously worked for the Women’s Missionary Union, an auxiliary of the SBC. Mark served as president of Judson College and David pastored multiple churches, while also taking over the writing of the Life and Work Sunday School commentary for The Alabama Baptist after his father wrote it for 15 years. Both men are now retired, David said.

Tew liked to laugh and play, David said, while Mark recalled doing crossword puzzles and similar activities with him. It was an “honor” to sit at the table with him, Delane said.

After years of ministry in the state, Tew leaves behind a large legacy, David said.

“There are generations of people … upon whose lives he had a profound impact,” David said.

In times of crisis, joy and more, Tew was there for the churches he served, and sometimes even beyond those church families, Mark said.

“Dad had this uncanny ability to show up,” Mark said. “There was a larger compassion than what helps one church.”

When his girls traveled as part of Judson’s choir, Mark said they would be asked if they were Earl Tew’s granddaughters. When he was at Harvard University for two weeks, he drove down during a break to First Baptist Church of America in Providence, Rhode Island. Even there, the pastor of the church asked, “Are you Earl Tew’s son?”

Tew’s children said they’ll remember how much their father cared for his children.

“He certainly leaves a big hole behind,” David said. “We know that his impact continues.”