Governance

Leadership and Oversight

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is managed under the direction and authority of the Governing Board, which provides fiscal and legal oversight to the Fellowship. The Governing Board is comprised 16 members, including the Moderator-Elect, Moderator, Immediate Past Moderator and the Recorder. Members of the Governing Board are selected by the Nominating Committee and elected by the General Assembly.

The Missions Council and Ministries Council serve as advisory bodies to the CBF Governing Board. In this role, the Ministries Council collaborates with individuals from throughout CBF to identify, develop and deploy the assets of the Fellowship, and the Missions Council provides vision and strategy to CBF’s mission enterprise.

For additional information about CBF’s governance structure, please see the CBF Constitution and Bylaws. Below you will find directories of current members of the Governing Board, Ministries Council, Missions Council and Nominating Committee:

Officers

Jason Callahan – Moderator

A longtime lay leader at First Baptist Church, Memphis, Tenn., Jason Callahan has served as chief human resources officer for several corporations and worked as a financial leader within a Fortune 400 corporation. In 2024, Callahan co-founded Empowerment Journey Consulting, which provides fractional executive services and consulting for business transformation and growth.

Callahan is a graduate of Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business and earned his Master of Business Administration from the University of North Texas. Callahan recently relocated to Oklahoma City, where he lives with his wife, Emily, President and CEO of Feed the Children.

Melissa Hatfield – Moderator Elect

Rev. Melissa Hatfield is the Lead Pastor of First Baptist Church in Jefferson City, Missouri. In March 2023, she became the first female lead pastor in the church’s 187-year history. Before this pastoral transition, she served for 23 years as Associate Pastor of Youth and Missions, where she built a thriving ministry centered on community, discipleship, and service.

Before her pastoral ministry, Rev. Hatfield was a high school educator and counselor for at-risk students in the Jefferson City Public School District. Throughout her career, she has been dedicated to fostering belonging and championing the flourishing of all people.

Melissa’s interests include cheering (quietly) for her 21-year-old nephew on golf courses, shopping (holding bags) for her 19-year-old niece, traveling, hiking, history, hammocking, reading, ice cream, and rewatching The West Wing.

Tanya Parks – Past Moderator

A Kentucky native, Parks has a Bachelor’s degree in church music from Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., and a Master of Divinity degree from Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. She began her ministry journey as a youth minister at Crosscreek Baptist Church in Pelham, Ala. and later served various congregations in the southside of Virginia.

In 2012, Parks and her husband, Jon, were commissioned as CBF field personnel in Košice, Slovakia. Her service to the Roma people included teaching English, supporting and ministering alongside a local Roma congregation, planning and facilitating on-the-field visits by short-term teams from partner churches in the United States and more. After nine years as field personnel, Parks accepted a call to serve as minister of children and retirees at University Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, La. In 2023, she and Jon were named as co-pastors of University Baptist. They have two children, Abigail and Kaitlyn.

Brad Jernberg – Recorder

Brad Jernberg serves as the Minister for Administration at South Main Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. He earned both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Music Education from the University of Texas at Austin. Brad was a choral director and music educator in Austin prior to hearing a call to ministry. For more than a decade, he served as a music minister and church administrator, most recently at Cliff Temple Baptist Church in Dallas. He has been a member of the National Association of Church Business Administration since 2009, and is active in the local Houston chapter. Brad is married to Margaret (who grew up in South Main), and they have two sons: William and Jack.

Members

Henrietta Anderson

Associate Pastor, Mount Calvary Baptist Church, Hopewell, VA.

Carita Brown

Reverend, Sharon Baptist Church, Baltimore, Md.

Jason Cogdill

Laity (Attorney), Ardmore Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, N.C.

Ruth Cuellar

Senior Pastor, Iglesia Bautista El Buen Pastor, Newnan, Ga.

Ronald Oliver

System Vice President of Mission & Outreach, Norton Healthcare, Louisville, Ky.

Alan Rudnick

Senior Minister, DeWitt Community Church, DeWitt, N.Y.

Jeff Hayes

Senior Pastor, Oakland Baptist Church, Rock Hill, S.C.

Wayne Weathers

Senior Pastor, Vision of Hope Baptist Church, Jenkintown, Penn.

Richard Bodenhamer

Laity, Vestavia Hills Baptist Church, Birmingham, Ala.

Amy Jacober

Teaching Pastor, Harbor Church, Phoenix, Ariz.

Lance Mayes

Associate Pastor of Community Engagement, Woodland Church, San Antonio Texas

Megan Scott

Laity (Consultant), Spring Creek Baptist Church, OKC, Peoria, Ill.

The Ministries Council serves as an elected advisory council to the CBF Governing Board. In this role, the Ministries Council collaborates with individuals from throughout CBF to identify, develop and deploy the assets of the Fellowship and to empower shared ministry networks.

In alignment with CBF’s focus on equipping the Ministry Grants Subcommittee is now welcoming applications from churches and congregations. This year, we are especially seeking to support ministries that equip churches to promote well-being—whether within their own congregations or in their broader community. The 2026 application window is open from August 1-September 18, 2026.

APPLY FOR A MINISTRIES COUNCIL GRANT

Members

Kristen Koger – Chair
Associate Pastor, First Baptist Church Waynesboro, Waynesboro, Va.

Kheresa Harmon – Chair-Elect
Minister for Children & Their Families, St. John’s Baptist Church, Charlotte, N.C.

Andrea Huffman – Past Chair
Senior Pastor, Dayspring Baptist Church, St. Louis, Mo.

Chris Thomas, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Wilson, N.C.

John Parker, Retired, First Baptist Church, Middlesboro, Ky.

James Dixon, Senior Pastor, Greater Faith Baptist Fellowship, Gainesville, Fla.

Emmitt Drumgoole, Senior Pastor, Montgomery Hills Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD

Kristen Mathis, Minister to Children & Young Families, First Baptist Church of Rome, Rome, Ga.

Kim Cook, LCSW, Elu Counseling, Chattanooga, Tenn.

J.D. McDonald, Co-Pastor, Emmaus Way Fellowship, Johnson City, Tenn.

Debby Haralson, College Director of Community Engagement, Samford University, Birmingham, Ala.

Melissa Bryson Dowling, Chaplain of William Jewell College, Liberty, Mo.

Justin Sizemore, Co-Pastor, First Baptist Church on St. Clair, Frankfort, Ky.

Phyllis Boozer, layperson, former coordinator of Baptist Fellowship of the Northeast, Wilton, Conn.

Scott Capshaw, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Tahoe City, Calif.

Naomi Black-Bass, Minister to Youth and Families, Knollwood Baptist Church, Anderson, S.C.

Matthew Hensley, Associate Pastor, Richmond’s First Baptist Church, Richmond, Va.

Wayne Smith, Ministry Leader, Central Bearden Baptist Church, Knoxville, Tenn.

The Missions Council serves as an elected advisory council to the CBF Governing Board. In this role, the Missions Council provides vision, strategy, education and sustainability to CBF’s mission enterprise. The officers and members of the Missions Council are listed below:

Members

Alex Lockridge – Chair
Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Corbin, Ky.

Janie Wallace – Chair-Elect
Laity, Ball Camp Baptist Church, Knoxville, Tenn.

Suzanne Hooie – Past Chair
Laity (Retired Pastor), First Baptist Church, Dalton, Ga.

Kris Aaron
Senior Pastor, Church on Main, Blacksburg, Va.

Terri Byrd
Pastor of Senior Adults, First Baptist Church, Decatur, Ga.

Waylan Upchego
Mayor, Pastor, All Tribes Baptist Church, Geary, Ok.

Georgia Smith
Laity, University Baptist Church, Baltimore, Md.

Aaron Glenn
Pastor of Serving Ministries, University Baptist Church, Houston, Texas

Scott McGinnis
Laity (Professor), Vestavia Hills Baptist Church, Vestavia, Ala.

Joyce Glover
Laity (Retired Physician), Providence Baptist Church, Cookeville, Tenn.

Jo Kirkendall
Chaplain, Biloxi, Miss.

Teruco Tynes
Associate Pastor, Kemp Road Ministries, Nassau, The Bahamas

Anna Parish
Seminary Student (Ministerial Intern), Hayes Barton Baptist Church, Raleigh, N.C.

Alaina Caridi
Deacon (Missions Committee Chair), Bayshore Baptist Church, Tampa, Fla.

Missions Excellence Award

Deadline for 2026 applications: March 15

The Missions Council of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship seeks to recognize three CBF partner congregations on an annual basis with Mission Excellence Awards that exemplify one or more of CBF’s Mission Distinctives and thereby offer the wider Fellowship cause for celebration and models for replication.

Officers

Kristin McAtee – Chair
Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Columbia, Mo.

Aimee Hobbs – Chair-Elect
Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Rutherfordton, N.C.

Joby Tricquet – Past Chair
Pastor, Fairfax Baptist Church, Fairfax, Va.

Members

J. Livingston
Senior Pastor, Remnant Fellowship, Atlanta, Ga.

Ali Chappell DeHay
Minister of Youth and Communications, Calvary Baptist Church, Waco, Texas

Maggie Quisenberry
Laity (Nurse), First Baptist Church, Chattanooga, Tenn.

Natasha Nedrick Adzudzor
Minister of Discipleship, Central Baptist Church, St. Louis, Mo.

Laura Davis
Coordinator, CBF Virginia, Midlothian, Va.

Taylor Mason
Director of Communications & Graphic Design, CBF of Florida and the Caribbean Islands, Santa Rosa, Calif.

Leigh Anne Armstrong
Laity (Chaplain), Auburn First Baptist Church, Auburn, Alabama

Stephen Gray
Associate Pastor, Westwood Baptist Church, Springfield, Va.

Greg Smith
Emeritus CBF Field Personnel, Carthage, Ark.

Amy Starr Russell
Associate Pastor for Children & Families, First Baptist Church, Greensboro, N.C.

Kyle Tubbs
State Coordinator, CBF Oklahoma, Norman, Okla.

Brittany Stillwell
Associate Pastor, Second Baptist Church Downtown, Little Rock Ark.

Noah Angel
Pastor, Familia Christiana Internacional, Jefferson City, Mo.

Matt King
Senior Pastor, Augusta Road Baptist Church, Greenville, S.C.

Kevin Gardner-Sinclair
Senior Pastor, Broadway Baptist Church, Louisville, Ky.