Anderson University is congratulating alumnus Dr. Johnnie R. Bradley, Sr. for his appointment as president of the African-American Fellowship of Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.
Dr. Bradley, who received from AU a Doctor of Ministry in Biblical Preaching in December of 2016, is the Senior Pastor of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, as well as the president of the Dallas Bible Theological Institute. His new position, he said, also gives him a position as vice president at-large for the national organization of the African-American Fellowship of the Southern Baptist Convention.
As part of his duties, Dr. Bradley will work with the more than 200 churches that are members of the fellowship to encourage them to fulfill the Great Commission and the five purposes of the church – worship, prayer, stewardship, fellowship and evangelism. Dr. Bradley will also work to get more churches to join the fellowship.
“I will make every attempt to get more churches to join the fellowship and support its programs by giving to the Cooperative Program,” he said. “Giving to the Cooperative Program means undergirding every phase of ministry for those who need training so they can be prepared while serving in the local church/community sharing the Gospel.”
Beginning as a youth minister, Dr. Bradley decided that in order to fulfill his career goals, he needed a good education.
“I realized I needed to go to the finest institutions in the country,” he said.
Dr. Bradley received his undergraduate degree from Dallas Baptist University in 2006 and went on to get his Master of Arts in Christian Education in 2009 from the same school. In 2013, he entered the doctoral program in ministry at AU.
Dr. Bradley said he was inspired to attend AU after hearing College of Christian Studies Dean Dr. Michael Duduit speak.
“I was impressed by his giftedness to expose Scripture in a manner which I had never encountered,” he said. “I met Dr. Duduit at an expository preaching conference, and he was just beginning to structure the doctorate of ministry program at Anderson University. As a preacher, I wanted to be as prepared and knowledgeable as he was. The Lord was tugging at my heart to follow him.”
The program provided him with the training he needed, he said, to train others, to be a better administrator and to build ministerial programs.
“It afforded the opportunity to appreciate the preparation I had received foundationally that would support my goals,” he said. “It made me more conscientious of preaching and teaching the whole counsel of God as a pastor, and gave me the skills to structure programs that will outlive me.”
For him, the school was a Godsend.
“The fellowship is so great there at Anderson University,” he said. “It enhanced my ministry tremendously. Anderson University has been a blessing to me, and I am so grateful to God that he put Dr. Duduit in my path.”
Dr. James Noble, assistant professor of pastoral ministry, said Dr. Bradley’s appointment shows the school’s ability to teach students to be qualified leaders in their churches, associations, and conventions.
“We teach in such a way that students can go out and use what they learn here,” Dr. Noble said. “One thing that helps our program is that the majority of our professors come from pastoral settings and have knowledge of being a pastor. With those years of experience, we are able to instill and teach those qualities to help the students in their quest, journey or calling.”
Dr. Bradley joins other students and professors who have reached leadership positions. Dr. Noble said before he came to the university, he was the vice president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention of the Southern Baptist Convention. Another current doctoral student, Rev. Bernard Yates, is President of the National Primitive Baptist Convention. Yates also pastors a church in Pensacola, Florida, Dr. Duduit said.