Surmising that Rev. Chris Shelton had probably influenced many in Decatur through his column in this newspaper for many years, as well as some who have ventured into First Presbyterian Church in Union which he pastors, I decided to feature him and his sweet wife in the Decatur Community News. I was glad for that decision when we met at the beautiful church he has pastored since June 2000.
Christopher Mark Shelton was born in 1963, in Decatur, Alabama, to Marshall and Linda Sandlin Shelton. His father was a supervisor in a heater production company, while his mother worked as an administrative assistant at the health department. Chris has one brother, Jeff Shelton, and three sisters, Kim Drake, Stacy Dove, and Greta Sparkman.
Chris’s main focus in high school and college was baseball. He made All-Stars teams in high school, graduated from Austin High School in 1981 in Decatur, then attended Wallace State Community College on scholarship, before graduating from the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a B.A. in Marketing in 1986. He had worked in Decatur for an industrial supply company and later worked in Birmingham for a Christian business, Alabama Thrift Stores.
Growing up, young Chris and his family attended a Congregational Christian church, where his grandfather was pastor. He shared that, working in business in his late twenties, he read motivational and inspirational books. Influenced by C.S. Lewis’s and Josh McDowell’s books, and Donald Grey Barnhouse and John MacArthur’s messages on radio, he shared, “I started realizing the Lord’s hand was on me, and I had my profession of faith in my room.” He continued, “I started going to church all the time. I became a member of Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham to take classes at their seminary. I wanted to learn more about the faith. The Old Testament class was taught by the Briarwood Church Pastor Frank Barker. He had a lot of influence on me. Also, R. C. Sproul greatly influenced me.”
He moved back to Decatur to his old job, with no plans to go into ministry. Attending the new Decatur Presbyterian Church, he taught the youth then the adult Sunday School class, and began considering going to seminary. Reluctant at first, again with the Lord’s hand on him, he began classes at the Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, and graduated in 1999, having earned an M.Div., or Master of Divinity.
Equally important was the fact that he met his wife, Tracey Doude, of McCool, Mississippi, while attending seminary in Jackson. She had been born in 1972, to Johnny and Cynthia Doude. Her father was a high school band director and her mother served as an administrative assistant at Mississippi State University after Tracey was grown. She has two younger brothers, John Doude and Matthew Doude.
Tracey was brought up Southern Baptist, recalling, “I made a profession of faith and walked the aisle when I was seven. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t believe in the Lord. It was a natural outgrowth of growing up in a Christian home.”
She graduated as Valedictorian in 1990 from French Camp Academy. Then in 1994 Tracey received her B.A. from Taylor University, a Christian liberal arts college in Indiana. She worked a year in Singapore at her first job with an educational company, using her Communications degree. She told me, “I was hoping to be a Christian influence wherever I worked.”
After returning home, she spent a year, 1996-1997, in Bangalore, India, working in girls’ schools for the Youth for Christ organization. Coming back home, Tracey took a job in Jackson and a couple classes at the seminary. In 1997, the Evangelism class was required for Chris, and someone just told her she needed to take the class. Coming in two weeks late, she moved in the girls’ dorm, met Chris, borrowed his notes, and began riding with him from the seminary in Clinton where they both were living to the First Presbyterian Church in downtown Jackson. They were married September 1999, at French Camp, Mississippi, in a Presbyterian church.
Christ did a one-year internship at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson during their first year of marriage. He then answered a call to pastor First Presbyterian Church in Union, serving there from June 2000 until now. Their oldest son Andrew was born in 2002, and now has one year left at Mississippi State University, working toward his degree in cyber security, a specialty in computer science. Jonathan came along in 2004, and is a senior at Union High School, where he was just recognized as a National Merit Scholarship semi-finalist.
Their youngest son Benjamin was born in 2006 with multiple birth defects. An early ultrasound caused Dr. Pupa to tell them she thought she saw some deformities and to send them to Jackson to confirm it with better equipment. The radiologist there did not see anything to worry about, which was a “God thing,” as they did not worry for the next few months. Ben was born in Meridian, and every organ was affected, from his heart, which had holes in it, to the fact that he was born with only one eye. He was flown to UAB, where his father told me, “In God’s Providence, his cardiologist was Dr. Walt Johnson.” Bro. Chris told me of how this doctor went way out of his way, spending much extra time, in order to help them get the right treatments for their newborn son. He had to be sent to Cincinnati, Ohio, for help with his mouth condition that hindered both his speech and eating.
His heart was repaired when he was about 1½ years old. Now sixteen, he can eat by mouth, he can walk, and he has a normal intelligence. His mother homeschools him, having homeschooled his brothers each several years, and said of Ben, “He loves to read and is a pretty talented writer.” His father recounted, “He has good spiritual insight, takes notes of my sermons and they’re good. He’s a deep thinker and has a good sense of humor. He’s got a creative gift. When his mother gives him a homeschool assignment to write stories, they’re usually comical.”
His parents told me how the church was a great help, contributing food and care and starting a fund at the local bank. In fact, it seemed the whole town, plus family and old friends, sent cards, offers of help and prayers. Tracey declared, “We wouldn’t have been able to handle it without their help,” and she told Ben, “These people have been praying for you since you were born.” They told of how three local girls in high school at the time, all named Anna coincidentally, helped them care for Ben, learning to suction his tracheostomy and feed him—Anna Johnson Stokes, now a pediatric nurse practitioner, Anna Laurie Ezelle Hamrick, now a local teacher, and Anna Alexander Blount, an instructor at MSU.
Pastor Shelton told me, “The greatest miracle is our being delivered from our sins. But God’s sovereignty in all of our daily troubles can be trusted.”
Live for Jesus! He’s coming soon! You may contact me at lagnesrussell@gmail.com or 601-635-3282.
