Leadership for the New Pastors Cohort, 2020-2022

In addition to the leadership, insight and contributions of each participant, the cohort will be guided over the two-years by a team of exceptional mentors and leaders. Taken together, the leadership team brings extensive knowledge of pastoral ministry and decades of experience as pastors, teachers, community and congregational leaders. Each shares a commitment to the integration of learning and theory, reflection and practice, and to the importance of cultivating the spiritual life of the pastor as a foundation for competent and faithful practices in the arts of ministry. The Cohort leaders for 2020-2022 are:

 
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The Rev. Dr. F. Timothy Moore, Cohort Mentor

Tim Moore holds the title Writer-in-Residence at Sardis Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he previously served as pastor for nearly twenty years. He writes a column, Practicing Congregation, for the Alliance of Baptists’ newsletter, contributes to the devotional guide Reflections (Smyth & Helwys), and provides liturgy for a worship resource at faithelement.net. The Spring 2021 issue of The Review & Expositor will publish his sermon, “Giving Up Privilege.” He regularly speaks at churches and institutions on the topic of his book, Practicing Midrash: Reading the Bible’s Arguments as an Invitation to Conversation (Wipf & Stock), which was published in Fall 2018. 

Tim’s congregational ministry emphasizes creative worship and collaborative leadership. In two separate sabbaticals he studied four dozen congregations creatively adapting Christian worship and later researched pastoral leadership as spiritual guidance.

Dr. Moore currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Alliance of Baptists, the Board of Advisors for the Baptist House of Studies at Duke Divinity School, and the Board of Trustees of Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School. He previously served on the Board of Trustees at Mars Hill University, Mars Hill, North Carolina.  He has extensive denominational service for both the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Alliance of Baptists.

Tim and his wife, Magay Shepard, a Vice-President and Certified Financial Planner for Stifel Nicholaus, are the parents of college-age triplets: Abby (American), Hannah (Emory), and Michael (UNC). A native of West Virginia, Moore graduated from Mars Hill College (B.S.), Andover Newton Theological School (M.Div.), Princeton Theological Seminary (D.Min.) and was ordained in the American Baptist Churches, USA.

 
 
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The Rev. Andrea Dellinger Jones, Cohort Mentor

Andrea Dellinger Jones has been the Senior Pastor at Millbrook Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC since April 2008.  Originally from Rome, Georgia, she graduated from Rhodes College in Memphis and earned a master of divinity degree from Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology.  Andrea later finished her doctorate in ministry from Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond.  She served four other churches in Georgia and Virginia prior to moving to North Carolina. 

Andrea’s call to the pastorate has been complemented by another calling to advocate for new ministers serving in the local church, especially women discerning their call to ministry.  During her pastorate at Millbrook, she has regularly supported new ministers serving as interns for the church.  She has also taught courses as an adjunct professor at Duke Divinity School and Campbell Divinity School.  Her teaching experiences contributed to her doctoral research on the spiritual formation of women clergy in training.  Andrea takes great delight in sharing the journey of ministry with someone new to the calling. 

Andrea’s husband, Brent, is also an ordained minister.  The couple met while they both attended seminary in Atlanta, and they continue to minister to the local church in different ways.  Brent also finished a doctorate, specializing in American religious history at the University of Virginia. 

This year Andrea and Brent share the responsibilities of homeschooling their amazing daughter, Anne Elyse Jones.  Each parent teaches several subjects.  Andrea also supervises her daughter’s piano practice, which has reawakened her own gifts and love for music.  The family relishes the flexibility of a homeschool schedule that allows them to eat every meal together and enjoy regular family walks.  Homeschooling also helps the family practice ministry together!  Andrea’s online sermons are enhanced every week by Brent’s images, cartoons, music, and sound effects.  Anne Elyse even appears in several of her mommy’s videos and contributed stuffed animals for critical scenes.  Ministry—indeed life!—is very collaborative for the Jones family.