By Lindsey Williams
Writing Specialist
Over fifty years and more than twenty job titles later, this month Dr. Tom Prather begins his well-earned retirement — although many colleagues confess they do not expect to see him sitting down for too long. Since playing on the basketball team at Baldwyn High School, Prather has been an accomplished athlete and a servant-leader. As a student at Mississippi College, he volunteered with the Baptist Children’s Village (BCV) and spent his summers in recreation and youth ministry.
Jehu Brabham played alongside Prather on the Mississippi College Choctaws basketball team. Throughout the 1970’s, the two men connected again through recreational work. In a recording played at Prather’s retirement reception, Brabham said, “I have watched Tom serve schools, in churches and church recreation, in our Mississippi Baptist Convention and our Hinds-Madison Association, and I have seen Tom most of all serve and love his family, his wife, his children, and his grandchildren. I know one day, Tom, you are going to walk into heaven and hear these words: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’”
Graduating Mississippi College (MC) in 1971 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Prather started his first job at Hillcrest Christian School teaching and coaching full-time. In 1977, after coaching and teaching at Clinton Junior High school and working for the Baptist Children’s Village as an assistant houseparent, he became the Minister of Youth and Activities at Woodland Hills Church, Jackson. While working there, he earned his Master of Education at MC in 1978, met Vicki through their church, and they married in 1979, beginning their adventurous life together. In that same year, Prather revitalized and coordinated the State Baptist Men’s & Women’s Softball Tournament, which he would lead for 26 years.
At Clarke College, in 1981, Prather became Dean of Students, among many other titles pointing to his business background and his athletic leadership. Amid the school’s union with Mississippi College in an attempt to save the school from ongoing financial and enrollment decline, Prather restarted the basketball program, gathering up players from around the state, and coached them. Four years later, after welcoming two of their sons — Scott and Wes — Prather served as Director of Financial Aid for Mississippi College, where he worked until 1995.
Ronnie Falvey, Senior Pastor at First Church, Canton, recalled when Prather recruited him on the team at Clarke and helped Falvey to later attend MC. Because of Prather, Falvey received an opportunity to play basketball on a mission trip overseas, where Falvey surrendered to full-time ministry. “Dr. Prather loves the Lord and he loves people. This is just the next chapter for him. He will close this door and God will give him something else to do, because he has always been busy and willing to serve and help in any way he can. It’s just been a joy to get to know him and associate with him at so many levels. He has been a tremendous servant of the Gospel and the Kingdom, and God has used him in incredible ways.”
Another recruited member of the Clarke team, Tamber Proctor, first met Prather when he served at Woodland Hills. “Tom has made a profound difference in my life and the most important thing was his leadership in guiding me toward Jesus Christ,” said Proctor.
Prather’s brother, Barry, shared in a recording at his reception, “Everywhere I go to this day, people ask me, ‘Are you related to Tom Prather?’ And when I say yes, they always say, ‘Well he is a fine fellow and a great guy,’ and you are, Tommy. You have touched a lot of lives through your career, through education, through your church, and just being involved in the community. I have always admired you for your strong faith in Jesus Christ.”
Three years after welcoming their youngest son, Chris, Prather returned to Woodland Hills in 1995 as Minister of Education and Administration, before serving as headmaster of the Woodland Hills Academy for a year. Bill Causey, Executive Director-Treasurer of the MBCB at the time, invited Prather to work at the Convention as a Church Growth Consultant. From 1998 to 2006, Prather served in many ministries, including sports evangelism and church mediation, renewal, and revitalization. One of Prather’s most rewarding experiences was traveling to the coast and delivering checks to pastors and churches affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Having worked as the Youth Ministry Consultant, Robin Nichols, MBCB retiree, worked with ministers of recreation throughout the state, including Prather, who never seemed to slow down his denominational service no matter where he worked. “Tom and I have stayed in touch all these years — about 50 years. I really think he will be able to consult people, because he is very good at what he does,” commented Nichols on his expectations of Prather’s retirement. “There will be some days when he enjoys the recliner, but there may not be a lot of them!”
Ed Deuschle, MBCB retiree and another longtime friend, shared his connection with Prather, which reaches back to junior high and high school when their basketball teams frequently played against each other. The two were not yet friends but Deuschle was well-aware of Prather’s skilled athleticism. Down the road, the two renewed a friendship at the Convention, this time without any rivalry necessary. For years now, Deuschle, Nichols, Glenn Shows, and Prather have met together once a month to eat and fellowship. “You’ll not find a more honest, more dedicated man than Tom Prather,” said Deuschle. “That’s why he’s one of my best friends ever.”
Jim Futral, who became Executive Director-Treasurer of the MBCB after Causey’s retirement, expressed at Prather’s reception, “In Acts 10:38, it says ‘Jesus went about doing good.’ Everywhere Jesus showed up, He did good. When I think about all the places and opportunities and institutions and things Mississippi Baptist which Tom has been a part of, what comes back when Tom shows up is that he is going around doing good. That’s the way Jesus was, and that’s the way He wants His people to be.”
While working at the MBCB in 2002, Prather began helping Andy Holder coordinate the Retired Ministers Golf Tournament that Andy had started in 1997 through his church, Raymond Road Baptist in Jackson. When Mr. Holder passed away in 2003, Prather took over this effort, and continues to coordinate the (renamed) Andy Holder Retired Ministers Golf Tournament each fall. Each year in December, approximately 100 annuitants in Mississippi receive a check from the tournament proceeds. So far, throughout its 28 years, approximately $287,000 has been raised for “God’s Needy Servants”.
In 2006, Prather became the headmaster of Hillcrest Christian School. At the retirement celebration, Chandler Key, graduate of Hillcrest, reflected on his education journey with Prather, “The first day I was taking the entrance exam, I can remember Dr. Prather walking by and saying to me, ‘Hey, I’m always going to take care of you.’ I didn’t know what you meant then. There were a lot of days I tried to mess it up, but you always were there to catch me. At the end of the day, there is a lot to say about Dr. Prather, but I think that a good man who loves God and loves his family and loves people is the best thing.”
In 2017, Prather began working with Dr. Cindy Melton, Dean of the School of Education at MC, to implement the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Leadership Institute and to begin a Master’s degree in Independent School Administration. In doing so, Prather served as the first MAIS Coordinator and Academic Advisor for the School of Education.
From 2018 to 2023, Prather served in the Baptist Children’s Village as Houseparent Recruiting Coordinator, Director of Convention Relations, and Staff Spiritual Enrichment Minister. In the 1970’s, he had also served in the BCV recreation program when Sean Milner, now Executive Director of the Mississippi Baptist Children’s Village, lived on the campus as a young teenager.
While in D.C., Milner called in to the retirement celebration to tell Prather, “Your efforts at the Baptist Children’s Village, especially through the Children’s Promise Act tax credit and all of that — you make these trips possible. I am up here working on legislation that will protect residential childcare agencies like the BCV throughout the country. This is impossible without your efforts, Tom.”
After the BCV, Prather returned to Hillcrest until his retirement. Zach Goodwin, history teacher at Hillcrest, commented, “I could not ask for a better mentor. He is just a great person who loves sharing the Gospel.” When asked of his expectations for Prather’s next chapter, Goodwin laughed, “He is not going to sit still. He says he is going to retire, but I doubt it. He will find something else to do.”
April Epperson, Hillcrest’s Spiritual Life Director and longtime family friend, shared her experience working with Prather. “I sat in his office more than one time with a student that everyone else would have given up on. She was going through a really difficult time personally and had no one to help her. I sat there in Dr. Prather’s office after he had given her another stern talking-to, and when she walked out, he said, ‘I just know God wants us to reach her.’ He took it upon himself to find the support that student needed to keep her here. Last year, she graduated and this year she came back and subbed, and she has plans to attend college. Everything changed for her because of the way Dr. Prather treats students and cares about them as a whole person.”
At his retirement reception on May 21 held in the Hillcrest Christian School Band Hall, Epperson announced the establishment of the Dr. Tom Prather Scholarship Fund, which will provide financial assistance to students facing financial obstacles, but who desire a Christ-centered education at Hillcrest.
Collin Carroll, a new coach and teacher, expressed to Dr. Prather, “In one year, I have learned more about who I want to be and who I need to be for those that matter the most to me. I’m a better husband and father, a better Christian, and a better person because of Hillcrest and because of you.”
Prather’s son, Chris, spoke in honoring him, “In hard seasons, I have heard my dad say, ‘The way that you leave a place will follow you forever.’ I have watched him live that out and I have given that advice to a lot of people. Today, the way that you are leaving this place will follow you forever.”
His wife, Vicki, who coordinated his retirement celebration, commented, “People who work with Tom want to work with him again. I was a teacher at Hillcrest when he was the headmaster, and I will never forget the day I called him to say there was a terrible clog in the bathroom on our hall. I asked him if he could find somebody to fix it, and he came down and unclogged it himself. That is the kind of servant leadership that he always shows. I’m so proud of him. He’s worthy of being recognized.”
In closing, Prather spoke at his reception, “I would be remiss if I didn’t say this is not about me. Everyone here could stand up and we would have kind words to say about you, too. What I am most thankful for is that you represent the groups that I have been with through the years.
“I am thankful for what we have seen God do for lives touched, not by me, but in how He touches lives. I am nothing special, but we have to be open to being used and let Him do it. That’s the way He works in our lives. All my stops and all the people I have gotten to know — that is what is most meaningful to me.”
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