Our Pastor

Pastor Jerry Young, a native of Scott, Mississippi, is the son of Reverend and Mrs. E. L. Young of Greenville, Mississippi. A graduate of Nugent Center High School in Bolivar County, Pastor Young has earned an Associate Arts Degree in Social Science from Coahoma Junior College in Clarksdale, Mississippi and a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology and Social Welfare from Rust College, Holly Springs, Mississippi. He earned a Master of Divinity Degree and his Doctor of Ministry Degree from Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi.

Pastor Young is married to the former Helen Louise Akins of Starkville, Mississippi. They are the parents of two daughters, Jerlen (Picasso) Nelson and Kelli Elizabeth, and the grandparents of one granddaughter, Linzee Elise Nelson.

Pastor Young's commitment to God and to His church has manifested itself in service on all levels: local, state and national. He began his service in the ministry at the Mt. Tenniea Baptist Church in Lamont, Mississippi. He has served as pastor of the St. John and the Pilgrim Rest Baptist churches, both located in Greenville, Mississippi. He has prayerfully and faithfully served the membership of the New Hope Baptist Church since February 1980.

Locally, Pastor Young has served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Baptist Seminary as well as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Bi-racial Baptist Commission. He has served the Seminary as a consultant in Evangelism, Leadership Development and Church Administration and as an instructor in Homiletics. Pastor Young serves on the Ministerial Advisory Board at Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi, and has served as an adjunct instructor in Homiletics at Reformed.

Active in the community, Pastor Young has served on the Mayor's Community and Economic Development commission, the Planning Board for the city of Jackson, as chairman of the subcommittee on the "Family" of the Mayor's special committee on Partnership Against Crime, on the Board of Directors of Catholic Charities as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the New Home Alcohol and Drug Three Quarter Way House, Jackson, Mississippi. Currently he is serving on the Board of Trustees at Belhaven College as well as the City of Jackson's Comprehensive Planning Committee.

Presently Pastor Young serves as president of the General Missionary Baptist State Convention of Mississippi, Inc., and as 2nd vice president of the National Baptist Convention U.S.A., Inc. where he is Regional Vice President for the Southwest Region. He works with the Evangelism Board of the convention and previously has served as a seminar leader in the Sunday School and NBC Administrators Division of the National Baptist Congress of Christian Education.