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The Rev. Dr. Thomas
D. Schwartz was born in Kingfisher, a rural farming community of about
4,000 people, located in north central Oklahoma. He grew up in the long-time
family home, located on the family’s small farm, which remains
dedicated to wheat production. Pastor Tom graduated from Kingfisher
High School in 1984, where he was an honor student, a leader of the
state-recognized debate, drama, and speech team, a member of the academic
team, and a staff member for the school newspaper.
Working both full-time and part-time to pay for his higher education
himself and to prevent incurring debt, Pastor Tom earned the associate
in arts degree in history, magna cum laude, from Redlands Community
College in El Reno, Okla., in 1990. He earned the bachelor of arts degree
in history, cum laude, in 1992, and the master of education degree in
social sciences, in 1993, from Southwestern Oklahoma State University
in Weatherford.
Pastor Tom earned the master of divinity degree, magna cum laude, from
Phillips Theological Seminary in Enid, Okla., in 1997. While a seminary
student, he served part-time as pastor of the First Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ) in Jet, Okla. He was ordained to the Christian
ministry by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Oklahoma in
1997 at Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Fairview,
Okla., where he was serving full-time as pastor.
During his eight years of ministry at Fairview, Pastor Tom also earned
the doctor of ministry degree with a specialization in Christian counseling,
highest honors, from American Christian College and Seminary in Oklahoma
City in 2001; the master of counseling psychology degree from Northwestern
Oklahoma State University in Alva in 2003, and the master of arts in
biblical and theological studies from Luther Rice University in Lithonia,
Ga., in 2003. He also participated in the Billy Graham School of Evangelism
at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., in 1997; the Vacation Term for
Biblical Study at St. Anne’s College, University of Oxford, in
1998, and the Holy Land Pilgrimage to Israel of the Grand Commandery
of Knights Templar of Oklahoma in 2000.
In addition to the Jet and Fairview congregations, Pastor Tom served
part-time as pastor
of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Morris, Okla., from
2007 to 2010. All three congregations experienced numerical and spiritual
growth during his tenure. The Morris church was recognized by the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada for being
in the top 10 percent of congregations its size for new members added
in 2009. He served as senior minister of Immanuel Evangelical Church
in Needville, Texas, from 2011 to 2016, when he accepted the call to
serve Collinsville Community Church as interim pastor.
In addition to his pastoral experience, Pastor Tom taught part-time
at Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College in Moore, Okla., from 1995 to
2010; served from 2002 to 2004 as part-time outpatient therapist at
Youth and Family Services of North Central Oklahoma in Enid, and from
2005 to 2010 as a full-time hospice chaplain for Sojourn Care of Tulsa,
Inc., ministering to the terminally ill and their families.
Pastor Tom lives in Collinsville with his son, Patrick, who is a freshman
at Collinsville.
(March 2016)
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