Born in wartime Liverpool while bombs fell on the city and his father served in the army in Egypt, Tom’s early life was shaped by resilience. As a tiny baby, he struggled to survive life-sapping pneumonia. Then, at the age of eight, he was isolated in a local hospital because he had contracted a highly infectious skin disease. He was isolated for over a year and recalls being discharged from the hospital the day before Queen Elizabeth's coronation (2nd June 1962). This isolation caused his educational development to fall seriously behind that of his peer group. As a result of this, he left school at the age 15 with no qualifications. On leaving school, he trained for five years as an apprentice engineer. It was during this time of training that he experienced God’s forgiveness, and this led to a strong sense that God was calling him into Christian service. This conviction led him to attend evening classes, and he gained a range of qualifications. Once his engineering training was completed, he entered college to pursue theological study.

Following graduation from London University, he accepted a call to establish a church 25 miles south of Cambridge. It grew rapidly under his leadership, and he pastored the congregation for eighteen years. It was during these years that Tom began to discern a deeper truth: that the Old Testament profoundly shapes the New Testament far more than commonly recognised. This insight became a lifelong pursuit—unlocking the vital theological link between the two testaments and transforming his understanding of scripture.

Scholar, Pastor, Mentor