June 14, 2022

By Aaron Weaver

DECATUR, Ga. — A well-known pastor who has been a leader in Cooperative Baptist life since its formation more than 30 years ago has been nominated to become the next CBF Moderator-Elect at the 2022 General Assembly in Dallas.

The CBF Nominating Committee has selected the Rev. Dr. David Hull to serve as Moderator-Elect in 2022-2023. Over the past 40 years, Hull has pastored diverse types of congregations across seven states. His previous pastorates include Burk’s Branch Baptist Church, Shelbyville, Ky. (1980-1982); Candlewyck Baptist Church, Charlotte, N.C. (1982-1986); First Baptist Church, Laurens, S.C. (1986-1993); First Baptist Church, Knoxville, Tenn. (1993-2002); and First Baptist Church, Huntsville, Ala. (2002-2014).

In 2014, Hull retired from pastoral ministry when his wife, Jane, was called to be the pastor of Union Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Watkinsville, Ga. Since 2014, he has served as a consultant with The Center for Healthy Churches, a group of coaches and consultants whose mission is “devoted to improving the spiritual, emotional and organizational health of churches and ministers.”

Following his retirement from full-time pastoral ministry, Hull has served as an interim pastor for First Baptist Church, St. Petersburg, Fla.; First Baptist Church, Augusta, Ga.; and First Baptist Church, Gainesville, Ga. He was also the part-time associate pastor of Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Atlanta from 2017-2020.

Additionally, Hull has served as adjunct faculty at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology, where he taught leadership and pastoral preaching courses and supervised doctoral students.

Hull has provided extensive leadership to the life of CBF since its inception. From 1990-1991, he served on the Interim Steering Committee that ultimately formed CBF. He is a past member of the CBF Coordinating Council (1997-2000), General Assembly Steering Committee (1998-1999), CBF Missions Council (2015-2018) and 25^th Anniversary Committee (2015-2017). Hull was also chair of the CBF 2012 Task Force (2010-2012).

A native of Louisville, Ky., Hull is a graduate of Vanderbilt University (Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration) and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Master of Divinity, Master of Theology and Doctor of Ministry). He was ordained in 1980 at Crescent Hill Baptist Church in Louisville, where he served as a youth minister from 1978-1980.

The Hulls have two children and three grandchildren and reside in Winston-Salem, N.C. Their daughter Emily Hull McGee is senior pastor of First Baptist Church on Fifth in Winston-Salem.

Hull shared that he is honored to be nominated to serve the Fellowship as Moderator-Elect.

“The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is my extended family of faith,” Hull said. “I have been nurtured at General Assembly gatherings, challenged through relationships in small groups, encouraged by CBF friendships, and had my world expanded through the mission work of CBF. The blessings of this cooperative community over the years have made my heart grateful, and now I am honored to be nominated as the Moderator-Elect of CBF. I look forward to serving with Cooperative Baptists as we seek to live out God’s mission together.”

CBF Executive Coordinator Paul Baxley called Hull’s willingness to serve as Moderator-Elect “a tremendous gift to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.”

“Across his life in ministry, David Hull has served as pastor of several CBF partner congregations and more recently as an interim pastor in several places,” Baxley said. “He is a friend and trusted advisor to ministers and lay leaders alike. As a consultant with our partners at The Center for Healthy Churches, David has offered tremendous help to congregations in transition and is a natural organizational leader. He chaired the 2012 Task Force for CBF, which provided us a new vision for faithful ministry and dynamic collaboration. I look forward to serving with David, the other CBF officers, and all the members of our governance bodies as we continue our journey toward bold faithfulness. I am grateful to our CBF Nominating Committee for their extraordinary efforts recruiting a remarkable group of new leaders.”

CBF Nominating Committee Chair Lauren McDuffie shared her gratefulness for the new nominees chosen to serve on the Ministries Council, Missions Council and Governing Board.

“Each year, our primary goal as the Nominating Committee is to find a group of new leaders who will add to and expand the representative nature of our leadership bodies, who will meet the unique needs in the life of our Fellowship in a given season, and who will do both these things by contributing unique gifts and stories to our life together,” said McDuffie, who serves as associate pastor of First Baptist Church, Morehead, Ky. “This year’s slate of nominees represents success in all of these areas.”

“As we continue to implement what we have learned together in the Toward Bold Faithfulness process and navigate the unique challenges of our rapidly changing world, these leaders strike the balance between the experience we will need to lean on and the new ideas we will need to boldly explore,” she added. “I am grateful to each of these nominees for their willingness to serve, and to each member of the Nominating Committee who participated in this sacred task of assembling those called to serve the future of the Fellowship.”

The CBF Nominating Committee will present Hull for approval from the General Assembly, June 29-30, along with additional nominees to serve on the Fellowship’s Governing Board, Missions Council and Ministries Council.

Additionally, the CBF Governing Board will bring forward nominee recommendations to serve on the Nominating Committee, Council on Endorsement, as well as the boards of CBF Church Benefits and the CBF Foundation.

At the conclusion of the 2022 CBF General Assembly, current CBF Moderator-Elect Debbie McDaniel will assume the role of Moderator, the Fellowship’s highest-ranking office.

Nominees to be presented for approval at the June 29-30 General Assembly are listed below.

Nominating Committee Report

Governance

• Moderator-Elect – David Hull, Consultant, The Center for Healthy Churches, Winston-Salem, N.C.
• Nominating Committee Chair-Elect – Courtney Stamey, Senior Pastor, Northside Baptist Church, Clinton, Miss.

Governing Board

• Don Brewer, Laity, First Baptist Church, Gainesville, Ga.
• David Hopper, Laity, First Baptist Church, Norman, Okla.
• Jackie Baugh Moore, Laity, Woodland Baptist Church, San Antonio, Texas
• Alan Redditt, Senior Pastor, Georgetown Baptist Church, Ky.

Missions Council

• Diana Bridges, Laity, Woodland Baptist Church, San Antonio, Texas
• Braxton Kemp, Laity, Second Baptist Church, Richmond, Va.
• Isaac Mwase, Associate Pastor, University Baptist Church, Baltimore, Md.
• Lawrence Powers, Senior Pastor, Benson Baptist Church, Benson, N.C.
• Anna Rullan-Garcia, Interim Director of Faith Formation & Outreach, Ravensworth Baptist Church, Annandale, Va.

Ministries Council

• Kan’Dace Brock, Lead Pastor, The Message Baptist Church, San Antonio, Texas
• JD Granade, Associate Pastor for Children and Congregational Life, First Baptist Church of Christ, Macon, Ga.
• Andrea Huffman, Pastoral Resident, Second Baptist Church, Liberty, Mo.
• Lesley Ratcliff, Associate Pastor for Children and Adults, Northminster Baptist Church, Jackson, Miss.
• Cecelia Walker, Laity; Chaplain, Baptist Hospital System, Birmingham, Ala.
  

Governing Board Recommendations

Nominating Committee

• Laura Ayala, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico
• Co’Relous Bryant, Associate for Missions, St. James Church, New York, N.Y.
• Ruth DuCharme, Music Teacher, Stratford Academy; Spiritual Director, and Member, Highland Hills Baptist Church, Macon, Ga.
• Anna Kate Stephenson, Associate Pastor to Children and Families, First Baptist Church, Orangeburg, S.C.
• Kristin Adkins Whitesides, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Winchester, Va.
• Courtney Jones Willis, Associate Pastor: Faith Formation & Congregational Life, First Baptist Church, Greensboro, N.C.

Recorder

• John Scott Jr., Laity, Mountain Brook Baptist Church; Attorney, Birmingham, Ala.

CBF Church Benefits

• Ka’thy Gore Chappell, Executive Director, Baptist Women in Ministry of North Carolina, Winston-Salem, N.C.

Council on Endorsement

• Dewey Bland, Federal Bureau of Prisons Chaplain, FCI Three Rivers, Three Rivers, Texas
• Reginald Bradley, VA Hospital Chaplain, San Francisco VA Medical Center, San Francisco, Calif.
• Veronica Martinez-Gallegos, Hospital Chaplain & Clinical Pastoral Education Educator, Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center, Matthews, N.C.
• Chris O’Rear, Pastoral Counselor, Counseling Center at Belle Mead United Methodist Church, Nashville, Tenn.

CBF Foundation

• Laurie Valentine, Laity, First Baptist Church, St. Petersburg, Fla.

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CBF is a Christian network that helps people put their faith to practice through ministry eff­orts, global missions and a broad community of support. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.