Tom Hudspeth

Rev. Hudspeth represents the United Methodist Commitee on Deaf and Hard of Hearing Ministries at the Task Force. He is the executive pastor and pastor of the Deaf at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas. Born in Dallas, Tom is a fifth generation Texan, but being a child of a United Methodist pastor and pastoral counselor, he has lived in various places. He was baptized at the Methodist church in Hoyt, Kansas; attended St. Andrew's UMC, Florissant, Missouri; Park Slope UMC, Brooklyn, New York; Lebanon UMC, New Jersey; confirmed at Riverside Drive UMC, Macon, Georgia; University UMC, Peoria, Illinois; and St. Luke's UMC, Kilgore, Texas which recommended Tom for ordained ministry.

Tom was born hard of hearing and grew up oral deaf. He responded to God's call to Deaf ministry while attending a rally for the Deaf at St. John's UMC, Oklahoma City in 1989. From his internship at Perkins School of Theology, Tom began to learn sign language through the Oklahoma Conference Ministry with the Deaf. Tom's Doctor of Ministry project, "ASL as a Means of Grace", was through Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. He has served churches in Henderson, Texas; Lower Hutt, New Zealand and Marshall, Texas.

Tom has been a member of the United Methodist Congress of the Deaf since 1989. In 2009, he was elected General Secretary of the World Federation of Deaf Methodists, and in 2011, became a consultant for the United Methodist Committee on Deaf & Hard of Hearing Ministries. Tom and his wife, Mary Kay (Deaf), have two children, Lossibeth (hearing) and Christian (Deaf).