Richard Kingsmore

Richard E. Kingsmore (born c. 1960 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina) is a composer and arranger and former minister of instrumental music at Shades Mountain Baptist Church.

Kingsmore is the son of mechanical engineer Russell Kingsmore, longtime director of energy management for the Sara Lee Corporation. He studied music at Samford University, the University of Alabama, and the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. He and his wife, Kathy, were both members of the touring praise band "Truth". He later worked as a freelance musician and arranger for Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Kingsmore came to Shades Mountain from the First Baptist Church of Norfolk, Virginia in March 1989. He arranged music and directed the church's newly-established orchestra, and assisted music minister Aubrey Edwards with outreach programs such as the Birmingham Christmas Pageant and the New Wind youth choir.

He left SMBC in August 1992 to serve as composer-in-residence and orchestra director at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. He and his wife, Kathy, moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina with their three children in 1996 where he joined the staff of Calvary Baptist Church.

In 1997 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a 30-count indictment against Richard and Kathy Kingsmore, alleging that they had solicited $3.4 million from investors for "Eurobonds", but in fact used the money to build a beachfront home in Florida and for overseas trips. She was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 30 months in prison. He was convicted of aiding her, and sentenced to 6 months.

The Kingsmores divorced and he was later remarried, to pharmacist Gina Byrd. They jointly operate a Christian music publishing business and he serves as worship pastor for Greer First Baptist Church in Greer, South Carolina.

External links

• Richard Kingsmore website

References

• Rozen, Miriam (November 7, 1996) "God and mammon." Dallas Observer'
• Garrison, Greg (May 29, 1997) "Former area minister, wife face federal fraud charges." The Birmingham News
• "Dallas woman, husband sentenced in fraud scheme" (February 22, 1998) Amarillo Globe-News