Church Street United Methodist Church has recently welcomed a new pastor to its pulpit.

James “Jim” Meadows, a native of Opelika, is the church’s newest pastor and has hit the ground running since moving to Selma in late June.

“I’ve been in the Methodist ministry since 1988,” Meadows said. “I think God called me, prompted me and called me to go into the ministry.”

Meadows has preached at several different churches across the south, and he said he is looking forward to his time in the Queen City.

“I’m just trying to find out what’s [in Selma],” he said. “It’s a great church here, and we want to keep it headed in the right direction.”

Meadows said he is the first one in his family to take on the role of ministry and said he got into preaching when he felt led to by God.

“My father, [Dr. J. C. Meadows Jr.], was an internal medicine doctor, and he would tell me sometimes, ‘I can patch them up, and I can keep them together just a little while longer, but some of my patients I just can’t stop them from killing themselves by the choices that make,’” Meadows said.

“I said, ‘Well you work on that in the medical end, and I’ll try to work on the other end.’”

Meadows moved to Selma with his wife, Alice. The couple has two grown children, Laura Terrell of Auburn and Daniel Meadows of Birmingham.

After completing seminary in North Carolina and obtaining a master’s degree, Meadows began preaching throughout Alabama.

“I was at nine years at a First Methodist Church in Phenix City and then one year at a church as it was going through a transition, and then I came here from Union Springs Methodist Church,” Meadows said. “July 5 was my first Sunday preaching.”

Meadows said he was impressed with the church attendance, and he is looking forward to what the future has in store.

“I was very pleased with the attendance with it being summer,” he said.

Meadows described himself as being conservative and open minded.

“I often describe myself as being conservative, evangelical, open minded. I try to be open minded, find new ways and exciting ways to express our faith and try to share with others,” Meadows said. “I just like to see people be helped and be touched and be changed. To see somebody that’s headed down what you would call a bad path … find some path or direction or wisdom from God.”