When he was 17, Dr. Wemp accepted Christ as his Savior and, as he said many times, “He never got over it.” He was called to ministry and embarked on a long scholastic career that included many degrees, with stops at Bryan College, Samford University (then called Howard College), Dallas Theological Seminary, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, California Graduate School of Theology, and Liberty University.
While at Dallas Theological Seminary in 1946, he met Celeste Magee Zimmerman at Scofield Memorial Church. The two were married for 63 years, ministering together until Celeste died in July 2010 at 86.
After pastoring in Florida, Alabama, and Illinois for several years, Dr. Wemp joined the faculty at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago in 1961 as the director of practical Christian work. Nine years later, he moved on to Southeastern Bible College in Birmingham, Alabama, where he was president. In 1973, he helped Jerry Falwell at the newly established Lynchburg Bible College (now Liberty University), serving as vice president of spiritual affairs. He and Celeste were active in mentoring students and developing leaders, and they shared their love for missions around the world.
Dr. Wemp taught personal evangelism at the Bible Institute in 1988, 1990-1992, 1996, and 1998-2002. He wrote several books and many Gospel tracts, the most well-known being his tract Your Ticket to Heaven.
Even in retirement, Dr. Wemp was active in encouraging and mentoring, and the same passion he showed in ministry was evident in his daily life, where he cared for friends and caretakers and regularly shared the Gospel.
Watch a video from September 2012, where Sumner Wemp shows that he not only still had a zest for life and Jesus but was also busy trying to convert whomever would enter his home.
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