Senior Pastor
Our Senior Pastor, Rev. Michael Croom, is blessed to be the husband of Cheryl, 30 years as of May 2024. He’s also blessed to be dad to Zach (24), Hannah (22), and Rachel (14). He enjoys spending time with his family, including vacationing with them (especially at the beach!); exercising; fishing (though he admits he hasn’t done it enough to know exactly what he’s doing!); and, learning Spanish.
Installed as sole pastor in February 2019, Pastor Croom has served at Trinity for over five years. Prior to coming to Trinity, He served as sole pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Hopkinsville, Kentucky from 2010-2019.
Pastor Croom was born and raised in West Tennessee, mostly growing up in Memphis. He graduated from Christian Brothers High School in 1988, the University of Memphis in 1992 (Memphis State University then!) with a B.A. in Journalism, and Vanderbilt University with a M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology in 1996. He worked as a Speech-Language Pathologist in Nashville for 10 years, mostly in a rehab setting with adults and teens with brain injuries, strokes, and other neurological conditions.
In 2006 Pastor Croom and his family (Cheryl, Zach, and Hannah then; Rachel came along a bit later!) moved to St. Louis for him to attend Concordia Seminary, one of two seminaries of the LCMS. After three years of classes and fieldwork at a local church in St. Louis, his vicarage year (pastoral internship) was in Tullahoma, Tennessee. After vicarage, he graduated from Concordia with an M.Div. in 2010 and was ordained into the ministry.
Pastor Croom has shepherded Trinity through some “interesting” times, to say the least. The Covid pandemic hit almost exactly a year after his arrival. As has been the case for so many churches and people, the impact of the pandemic still lingers.
In late 2020, the Lord led Trinity to begin a Hispanic Ministry and Mission at Trinity by calling Pastor Ricardo Granado as Associate Pastor for Hispanic Ministries. Pastor Granado had fled from Venezuela with his family and ended up in Memphis the year before. And, the ministry that “shouldn’t have” did! Though there is a low concentration of Hispanic people in the downtown and mid-town Memphis areas, the ministry thrived. In early 2022, however, Pastor Granado received a Divine Call to serve in the Michigan District of the LCMS. By May 2022, he announced he was accepting the Call. At that time, Pastor Croom began learning Spanish in order that the ministry might continue. He took over the Hispanic Ministry in mid-August 2022.
Pastor Croom began learning through self-study and then continued His study by taking online classes for the last year. He has learned a lot of Spanish in a short time during the last year-and-a-half but acknowledges he still has much to learn as he serves the whole, wonderfully diverse community and family of people the Lord has gathered as His own at Trinity!
Office Administrator &
Hispanic Worship Music Leader
Meet Samuel Granado. Originally from Venezuela, Samuel found his way to Memphis in 2019 and ended up at Trinity shortly thereafter, first as a member and now occupying our Office Administrator role. Samuel actually wears many hats at Trinity. Not only is he Office Administrator but also Hispanic Worship Music Leader, our Connecting2Christ Hispanic Preschool - Kindergarten group teacher, and assistant Youth Group leader.
Samuel's warm and welcoming nature extends beyond the office. In his free hours, he generously dedicates time as a Youth Mentor for World Relief, embodying Trinity's commitment to community and service. He is an adventurer who relishes hiking, a skilled(ish!) soccer player, and a music enthusiast. Whether discussing upcoming projects or sharing the latest hiking spots, he's always ready to connect and foster a sense of community within Trinity. You can connect with Samuel to chat about Church, music, life outside the office, sports, or to explore the coffeeshop culture of Memphis!
