Terry Turner Heads Southern Baptist Convention of Texas

Rev. Terry M. Turner (MABS, ’91; MACE, ’95) was recently elected as president of the Southern Baptist Convention of Texas. Nominated by Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Rev. Turner was elected to his new post at the fourteenth annual meeting of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention on November 15, 2011.

A native of Guthrie, Oklahoma, Rev. Turner graduated from Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma in 1979 with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. He responded to a call to the ministry during his senior year of college. Rev. Turner immediately plunged into practical ministry, first serving the Mount Zion Baptist Church of Guthrie as an assistant to the pastor, and then as pastor from 1982 through 1989.

In 1989, Rev. Turner entered Dallas Theological Seminary. After he earned his first degree from DTS in 1991, Rev. Turner started a church plant in Mesquite, Texas: the Mesquite Friendship Baptist Church. Under his tutelage, the church grew from five families to 2,100 members. During this time, Rev. Turner also organized radio and television broadcast ministries.

No newcomer to SBC leadership, Rev. Turner served as an executive Board Member of the Southern Baptist of Texas Convention from 2002 -2010, among other roles. Rev. Turner also currently serves as the President of the SBC (Texas) African American Fellowship. He is also a Trustee of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, San Francisco.

Rev. Turner has been married for twenty-nine years to Nancy; they have three children, one son-in-law, two daughters-in-law and five grandchildren.