Dr. Jerry Sutton is an American

Southern Baptist The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestantism in the United States, Pr ...

pastor, historian, and administrator. His

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is best described as conservative and

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

Biography

Early life

He earned a PhD in church history from the

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is a Baptist theological institute in Fort Worth, Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. It was established in 1908 and in 2005 was one of the largest seminaries in the wor ...

Career

He served at Two Rivers Baptist Church in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, for twenty-two years and retired on August 3, 2008. The church averaged approximately 2,000 in average weekly attendance over the course of his pastorate. In 1999, he led the Summit for the New Millennium which was designed to coordinate missionary efforts and church support in the

10/40 window The 10/40 Window is a term coined by Christian missionary strategist and Partners International CEO Luis Bush in 1990 to refer to those regions of the eastern hemisphere, plus the European and African part of the western hemisphere, located bet ...

, a region defined as having high socioeconomic challenges and low access to the Christian message and resources. He served as the president of Southern Baptist Pastor's Conference in 2000 and was first Vice President of the

Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestant, and the second-largest Chr ...

in 2005. During the 2006 Tennessee Baptist Convention, he led a movement amongst Tennessee Baptist to affirm the

Baptist Faith and Message The Baptist Faith and Message (BF&M) is the statement of faith of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). It summarizes key Southern Baptist thought in the areas of the Bible and its authority, the nature of God as expressed by the Trinity, the sp ...

2000 edition when he proposed that all appointees of the Convention’s Committee on Committees and the Convention’s Committee on Boards be asked if they affirmed the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 edition. He served as the first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention from June 2005 to June 2006. In June 2006, he announced he would allow himself to be nominated for the Presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention after being repeatedly asked to run by other Southern Baptists. He made this announcement only a few days prior to the election at the Southern Baptist Convention in

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

. He ran against two other candidates, Frank Page of South Carolina and

Ronnie Floyd Ronald Wayne Floyd (born November 11, 1955) is an American Baptist pastor, and a former Southern Baptist executive. Ronnie was the Senior Pastor of Cross Church (formerly called First Baptist Springdale), a Southern Baptist megachurch located ...

of Arkansas. He placed third with 24.08% of the overall vote. In 2009 Sutton joined the faculty at

Liberty University Liberty University (LU), known simply as Liberty, is a Private university, private Evangelicalism in the United States, evangelical Christian university in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservativ ...

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner and Abolitionism, abolitionist John Lynch (1740–1820), J ...

, and wrote the ''Primer on Biblical Preaching''. He took the position of Vice President of Academic Development and Dean of the Faculty at

Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MBTS) is a private Baptist seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary also houses an undergraduate college, Spurgeon C ...

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, in 2010.

Personal life

He is married to Fern, a professional Christian therapist, and has two daughters.

Bibliography

*''The Baptist Reformation'' *''The Way Back Home'' *''A Matter of Conviction'' *''A Primer on Biblical Preaching'' * Lectures From the Gates of Hell

References

External links

Two Rivers Baptist Church

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, Jerry Living people Religious leaders from Nashville, Tennessee Southern Baptist ministers Year of birth missing (living people) Baptists from Tennessee