Pastor for Teaching and Training Announcement

Pastor for Teaching and Training

The Elder Council and Personnel Ministry Team have recommended Jim Shaddix to serve as Pastor for Teaching and Training. As a member of the Pastoral Staff Team, Jim will serve in a variety of preaching, teaching and training contexts for our faith family, including the Institute for Disciple-Making. This role will be jointly supported by The Church at Brook Hills and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Introduction to Jim Shaddix from The Church at Brook Hills on Vimeo.

Jim presently serves as Professor of Preaching at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, which is located in Wake Forest, NC. He has been married to his wife Debra for 29 years and they have three adult children. Their oldest, Clint, is married and serves in the U.S Navy; Shane is also married and is pursuing his theological education at Southeastern Seminary; and their daughter, Dallys, is a sophomore at the University of Mobile. In his spare time, Jim enjoys home improvement projects, jogging and golf.

As part of his own ministry training and theological education, Jim has earned a Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; a Doctor of Ministry degree, also from Southwestern; and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

With over 30 years of vocational ministry experience, Jim has served as a senior pastor of churches in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Colorado. From 1994 – 2005 he was a member of the faculty at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. There he served as Professor of Preaching and Dean of the Chapel.

Over the years, there have been at least 3 defining and fruitful areas of Jim’s ministry.

First, Jim is passionate about disciple-making. When asked about disciple-making, as well as how it affects his life personally, Jim said, “Every believer in Jesus Christ, every local church and every cooperating network of churches is commissioned with the privilege and responsibility to make disciples of all nations … The primary candidates for discipleship in my world are my wife and children, who I am responsible for helping shape into the image of Christ. My discipleship efforts then extend to my neighborhood, my local church field and the nations. For the last several years I have attempted to always be leading one discipleship journey with 2-3 other men in which we are seeking to preserve and propagate the gospel reproductively. Debra and I also have made a commitment to use our home for disciple-making in our empty-nest years by providing room and board to a ministry student or young couple.”

Next, Jim is committed to investing in the lives of young pastors and ministry students.

In describing how God stirred his heart for young pastors Jim said, “He broke my heart for the barrenness in the spiritual lives and ministry passion of many pastors, and this burden launched me down a path of investing in young leaders.” Regarding his personal approach to mentoring, Jim explains that the process begins with identifying leaders who are ready – hungry to grow, willing to give the necessary time for training, reliable with important matters of life and teachable. For Jim, one of the most important aspects of training and mentoring leaders is “doing life together.” One of his personal convictions is that “discipleship doesn’t take place in a vacuum or even primarily in a classroom.” With that said, Jim goes on to say, “the role of instruction can’t be minimized…there’s still the need to transfer information from teacher to student.” A final component in Jim’s approach to mentoring ministry students is empowerment – sending disciples out to do the work of ministry.

Finally, Jim is a gifted preacher and teacher of God’s Word. He says, “I absolutely love watching God’s people being shaped into Christ’s image through the regular exposition of His Word.” Jim’s theology and philosophy of preaching has been shaped by Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. Jim identifies three core convictions that surface in this passage: 1) preaching is about the proclamation of the Word of God, not the word of a man, 2) preaching is empowered by the anointing of God, not the ability of a man, and 3) preaching is aimed at fostering faith in the power of God, not in the wisdom of a man. Ultimately, Jim says, “What surfaces in Paul’s treatise is that God has wisely ordained the approach to preaching so that its end is one thing – His glory!”

What a blessing it will be to have someone with Jim’s ministry experience and spiritual maturity serving alongside us! Please be praying for Jim and his family during these days. Here are some specific ways you might pray:

Following a two-week period for prayer and questions regarding this recommendation, a vote of affirmation will be taken at the beginning of each Worship Gathering on Sunday, August 5. Questions and concerns can be sent to our Executive Pastor, Dennis Blythe, at dblythe@brookhills.org.