Description

Panelist
1. Emily Hull McGee is the pastor of FBC Winston Salem, NC. As a third-generation minister in a family of ministers, Emily’s family’s impact upon her life and calling into ministry has been significant. Her love for music and the arts became the filter through which she chose her collegiate educational communities, pursuing a career in voice and opera performance, first at Furman University (undergraduate) and later Northwestern University (graduate school). It was during this season of her life that Emily felt the strangely warm tug of a call to ministry, when Love stirred within her a passion for community, inclusion, and transformation. Emily received her Divinity degree from Wake Forest University School of Divinity. She also enjoys contributing to the larger Baptist family through serving in leadership on a variety of organizational boards in CBF life, including chairing the CBF Ministries Council in 2015-2016.

2. Jim Kitchens is the Founder and Principal at Pneumatrix and a CHC consultant. Jim has served Presbyterian churches in California and Tennessee for almost 35 years. He loves helping congregations prayerfully discern how the Spirit calls them to adapt to changing cultural contexts. Jim is the author of The Postmodern Parish published by the Alban Institute.

3. Known by most as “Tommy,” Dr. McDearis is a loyal husband, father, minister and friend who has served as BBC’s senior pastor since 1997. Tommy is known for his caring and gregarious personality, his passionate faith, a jovial sense of humor, commitment to personal outreach, and commitment to social and denominational activism. In addition to his interpersonal ministry style, he also holds multiple academic degrees, including an earned doctorate in pastoral ministry and applied theology. Dr. McDearis has also received training in clinical pastoral counseling from Southeastern Seminary and the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center School of Clinical Pastoral Education.