Staff

Jeff Lynn serves as the Senior Strategist for Church Health and Leadership, resourcing and networking church leaders across the state. He has been in ministry for over 32 years, serving in itinerant Christian music ministry, as a Worship Pastor, and as a Senior Pastor for 25 years. He recently served as pastor of Yorktown Baptist Church in Corpus Christi, TX for twelve years. Jeff has been married to Renee since August 1988, and they have three sons, two daughters-in-law, and one grandson. Jeff’s replenishment therapy is golf.

Jim Richards was saved and answered the call to preach at age seventeen. He pastored for twenty-one years in Louisiana, later serving as Director of Missions in Bentonville, Arkansas. He has traveled and ministered in all 50 states and 19 countries. He has preached at seminary chapel services, pastors’ conferences, state conventions and the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. Dr. Richards has served the SBC on various committees and boards, including being elected First Vice President of the Southern Baptist Convention in 2007.

Dr. Richards’ education includes two undergraduate degrees, a Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry from Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis. He is a Distinguished Alumnus of both seminaries. The Criswell College in Dallas awarded Dr. Richards the Doctor of Divinity in 2013.

He has authored several books, including Hard Hat Area: Building Biblical Families, Encouraging Words for Difficult Days, Revelation: The Best is Yet to Come and Embracing the Ends of the Earth, and he is a contributing author in The Mission of Today’s Church and Messages for the Journey. He writes a regular column in the TEXAN newspaper and has contributed to numerous blogs, periodicals and newspapers.

When the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention was formed in November of 1998, Dr. Richards became the first Executive Director. The SBTC has experienced phenomenal growth both numerically and financially. The Convention has become an important partner for churches in Texas and with the Southern Baptist Convention.

Dr. Richards and his wife, June, have three children and six grandchildren.

Joe Davis serves as Chief Financial Officer and director of the Operational and Financial Services for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, a position that he has held since August 1999.

The Operational and Financial Services area facilitates all ministries of the SBTC through exact accounting of all income, management, and exact recording of budgeted expenses as well as implementation of other business policies. Cooperative Program receipts and designated funds are properly accounted for and held as trust funds for the purpose for which they are given.

Joe is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi. He is married to Judy and they have four daughters.

Joe Lightner serves as the associate executive director for the SBTC. He has expansive ministry background of pastoring growing churches and serving as an executive leader in ministry organizations. Joe and wife Rebekah, live in DFW with their two teenage daughters, Hannah and Julia.

Dr. Nathan Lorick is currently the Executive Director for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. His desire is to see a movement of God in this generation through intentional evangelism, missions, discipleship and church planting. He has served the Southern Baptist Convention on the nominating committee as well as a trustee for the International Mission Board. He is a graduate of East Texas Baptist University and Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary where he earned both a Masters of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degree. He also holds an Honorary Doctor of Divinity from Louisiana Baptist University. He and his wife Jenna live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with their 4 children.

Nathan has been a guest on media outlets such as “Fox and Friends,” “Glen Beck Radio,” “American Family Radio,” “Tony Perkins Live” and many others for taking a stand for religious liberty. His passion to see culture transformed by the power of the gospel sets him apart in his generation. Nathan is the author of Dying to Grow, the initiator of the 1Cross app that shares the gospel in over 60 languages and creator of the “Game Plan” evangelism initiative. When not traveling Nathan enjoys spending time with his family, hunting, reading and running.

Tony Mathews has been in ministry for thirty-eight years. Thirty-five of those years have been spent providing pastoral and ministerial care not only to African Americans but also to other races and people from other cultures. He recently celebrated thirty years as Senior Pastor of North Garland Baptist Fellowship in Garland, Texas. He transitioned from that position to the SBTC to serve as the Senior Strategist for Missional Ministries. He has earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Angelo State University, San Angelo, Texas, a Master of Arts in Christian Leadership from The Criswell College, Dallas, Texas, and a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry from Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

Tony is the author of There’s More Than One Color in the Pew: A Handbook for Multicultural, Multiracial Churches, and he is a contributing author for both the North American Mission Board’s Journal of African American Southern Baptist History, and for the Next Steps Resources published by the International Mission Board. He also served two terms as a trustee at Southwestern Seminary and is a former president for the African American Fellowship of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.  Tony has traveled on mission trips to South Africa, India, Ecuador, and Montreal. His trip of a lifetime was to the Holy Land in Israel.  He loves people and has a heart for pastors. He also has a passion for inspiring pastors to be mobilizers for missions in the local church. He is married to Angela Mathews, and they have three adult children and one granddaughter.

Alex was born into a catholic family. Jesus saved him at 14 and 13 years later he surrendered to ministry.

He brings with him over 30 years of coaching experience, with 25 of them being in ministry. He has served on SBTC staff since 2013. He serves churches, associations, and pastors as the DFW Regional Catalyst, or wherever else he is needed across the SBTC.

He is passionate about helping guide those called to serve the local church, and especially churches that find themselves in transition. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Criswell College. He can often be found announcing high school sports.

Alex is married to his beautiful wife Tabitha, and they have two adult children. His son Cody is a high school teacher and coach, and his daughter Avery, is working as a nanny, while attending college.

Anthony Svajda oversees the SBTC’s Regenesis church revitalization strategy. The goal of Regenesis is to help churches in jumpstarting the revitalization process.

Svajda has served as lead pastor at Harvey Baptist Church in Stephenville since 2015 and has also served as an associate pastor, collegiate pastor, and student pastor in locations including Jewett, Colleyville, Keller, and Watauga. He received his Ph.D. in evangelism and church revitalization from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2018 and his Master of Divinity in evangelism from SWBTS in 2013.

Svajda and his wife, Kristen, have two children.

Arlene Sanabria, nacida en Puerto Rico, está casada con Jacob y es madre de un hijo y una hija. Es líder del Ministerio de Mujeres en español para la Convención de los Bautistas del Sur de Texas (SBTC), conferencista, traductora, y corresponsal para el Southern Baptist Texan. Sus escritos también aparecen en Baptist Press en Español y el devocional Quietud de Lifeway. Tiene una licenciatura en Administración de Empresas (Universidad de Puerto Rico), un grado asociado en Artes en Ministerio, y un Certificado en Consejería Bíblica del Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Actualmente cursa una Maestría en Estudios Teológicos en dicho seminario.

A través de su ministerio Germinarás, inspira a mujeres a crecer en su fe, en su conocimiento bíblico y vivir la Gran Comisión.

Chris Enright serves the SBTC as the Information Technology & Communications Director. His responsibilities include all computers, software development and purchases, new technology launches, all technical aspects of ministry and special projects as well as communications project management and support. Chris worked in the retirement and marketing areas of GuideStone Financial Resources for 14 years before moving to state denominational work in May 2008.

Chris holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing & Management and an MBA in Finance from Baylor University. He has a beautiful wife, Heather, and three children. His focus is to use his administrative gifts for Kingdom work.

Colin Rayburn is the Missions Mobilization Associate for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. He partners with churches by equipping them to assess, develop, and implement effective missional strategies within Texas, the U.S. and the unreached people groups around the world. He also develops and partners with compassion ministries in order to mobilize the church to meet the felt needs around Texas.

He earned his Bachelor’s Degree from The University of North Texas in Philosophy and a Masters of Divinity from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Great Commissions Studies. Colin is a former pastor and missionary, having served in Western Europe for five years. He lives in Fort Worth with his wife Cindy and two children: Theo & Kaiyah.

Dan Acharya serves as a Missions Strategies Associate, leading People Group ministries.

Born into a Hindu family and raised as a Brahmin priest, Dan was introduced as a teenager to his Savior through John 15:16. He has been in ministry over 27 years as a church planter and evangelist both in Asia and Texas. He has seen God plant over 285 churches throughout his years in ministry.

He is married to Narola, with one son, Sevak.

With over 40 years of experience in youth ministry, Grant is passionate about serving both God and teenagers. He studied at Texas A&M University, East Texas Baptist University, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, earning his Doctorate of Educational Ministry in Leadership in 2003. Originally from Port Neches, Texas, Grant dedicated 33 years as the Minister with Students at First McKinney Baptist Church. He has also served at Second Baptist Church in Baytown and various congregations in Mt. Pleasant, Throckmorton, Cleburne, Texas, and Greenwood, Louisiana.

An avid Dallas Cowboys fan, Grant enjoys spending time in his woodshop, “Byrd House Woodworking,” where he crafts a variety of projects. His true passion lies in helping students come to faith in Jesus Christ and grow through intentional discipleship. Grant proudly shares that his greatest blessings are his wife, Jill, their son Keegan and daughter-in-law Victoria, and their daughter Darby. Together, he and Jill love to travel, having explored all 50 states and 60 countries, where he has had the honor of preaching in many locations. His favorite verse is Ephesians 2:10, and he often reminds others that God has never failed and never will.

Jayson Larson serves as Digital Ministries & Communications Associate and Editor of the Texan magazine. He spent the first 15 years of his professional life as a journalist, writing and editing in locations across East and Northeast Texas, before answering a call to vocational ministry in 2015. Jayson served as Missions & Evangelism Pastor at FBC Vidor in Southeast Texas and later served as Senior Pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Central Oregon. His wife, Brandi, is a math teacher at Grapevine High School and they have two children: Cameron, who is a United States Marine, and Kennedy, a college student and cross country/track athlete in Oregon.

Jesse Contreras serves as the SBTC en Español Associate, a position that he has held since 2011. SBTC en Español exists to encourage and facilitate the fulfillment of the Great Commission to SBTC churches and associations in reaching hispanic groups in Texas through conferences, retreats, informational sessions and church consultation.

Jesse holds a M.A. in Christian Education and a Bachelor of Arts, both from Criswell College. He is married to Wendy and they have three children.

Karen Kennemur serves in the areas of family, preschool, and children’s ministries. She assists ministry leaders in their ministries to children and their families.

Karen also is the Professor of Children’s Ministries at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS). Before becoming a professor at SWBTS and later joining the SBTC, Karen served at several churches as a preschool and children’s minister and was the director of a private Christian preschool.

Karen received her Ph.D. in childhood education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, her M.A. in christian education with a concentration in children’s ministry from SWBTS and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Baylor University.

Laura Taylor serves as the Women’s Ministry Associate for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.

Laura graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree. For the last 25 years, she has been involved in women’s ministry as coordinator, retreat planner and speaker. She teaches for the Cleburne Christian Women Job Corp and teaches God’s word to women at First Baptist Church Alvarado where her husband is pastor. Laura is a trained chaplain for SBTC Disaster Relief and enjoys ministry on deployments but her passion is to “love on” and disciple women to follow Jesus.

Laura and her husband have two daughters.

Paul joined the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention in January of 2021 as the Regional Catalyst for West Texas.

Before joining the SBTC, Paul pastored two churches for over ten years in Texas and Oklahoma and served in several churches across Texas in different ministry roles.

Paul has a bachelors degree from Howard Payne University and two degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; a Masters of Divinity with Biblical Languages and a Doctor of Ministry in Expository Preaching.

Paul is married to his beautiful, better half, Michelle and he has two amazing children, Jonathan and Maddie. He also has two dogs, and a cat, enjoys drinking coffee, reading, watching movies, and going on family adventures.

Phil joined the SBTC team in January, 2022.  Prior to joining the team he served churches in Texas and Louisiana for 30 years. He has served the local church as student pastor, small groups pastor, and executive pastor during that time. While serving in the local church Phil completed his Master of Arts in Discipleship from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is passionate about discipleship and is eager to support the local church in accomplishing the mission of making disciples.

Phil is married to his beautiful wife, Lori Todd and they have two grown sons (Bryce and Blaine) and two wonderful daughter-in-laws. Apart from spending time with his family, Phil enjoys being in the outdoors, golfing, hiking, and a good cup of coffee.

Rick joined the SBTC staff January  1^st, 2022. Before joining the SBTC, Rick pastored for 34 years in Colorado, 24 of them as the lead pastor. He has experience in rural and city churches, small and large churches, revitalizing churches and planting churches. He has his bachelor’s degree from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas where he grew up. He also attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Gateway Seminary. In addition this formal education, Rick has multiple trainings and certifications in evangelism, church planting, leadership, preaching and teaching, counseling, coaching and mentoring, and family ministry.

Rick has been married for 40 years to his wife, Sally. They have four married children and eight grandchildren, all of them serving in full time ministry and one of them serving with the IMB. In addition to this, they raised three other girls, two of them refugees from Burma and one from China.

In addition to Rick’s passion for spending time helping pastors and churches, he loves traveling with his wife, talking to his children about theology and church life over coffee and working with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes discipling coaches and student athletes.  He also has a passion for going to the nations with the gospel and oversees a nonprofit ministry called Apostello Mission.   

Scottie Stice has served as the Director of Disaster Relief for more than ten years.

Scottie previously served with the International Mission Board in Central America and churches across Texas. He holds a B.A. from Criswell College, a Master of Arts in Missiology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and is a Ph.D. candidate in World Christian Studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Scottie and his wife Judy have been married for over 38 years and have four adult children and three grandchildren.

Shane Kendrix joined the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention in January of 2021 where he is the regional catalyst for northwest Texas.

Previously, he pastored churches in Texas and Oklahoma for 11 years.

Shane graduated with a doctorate of ministry from Andersonville Theological Seminary in 2015.

Steve Cochran serves as the Regional East Texas Catalyst.

Steve is a church planter within the SBTC at CrossWalk Church in Round Rock. He received his Masters of Arts in Religious Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and received his undergraduate degree from Stephen F. Austin State University. He has served in full-time ministry for 40 years and pastored three Texas churches.

Steve is married to Karen and they have four children.

Alex was born into a catholic family. Jesus saved him at 14 and 13 years later he surrendered to ministry.

He brings with him over 30 years of coaching experience, with 25 of them being in ministry. He has served on SBTC staff since 2013. He serves churches, associations, and pastors as the DFW Regional Catalyst, or wherever else he is needed across the SBTC.

He is passionate about helping guide those called to serve the local church, and especially churches that find themselves in transition. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Criswell College. He can often be found announcing high school sports.

Alex is married to his beautiful wife Tabitha, and they have two adult children. His son Cody is a high school teacher and coach, and his daughter Avery, is working as a nanny, while attending college.

Glen Pearce serves as a Field Representative in East Central Texas. He joined the SBTC staff in November 2016.

Prior to sensing God’s call to vocational ministry, Glen managed a building material retail business, was a sales representative for a wholesale hardware company and was an assistant city manager in Southeast Texas.

He graduated with a Master of Arts in Religious Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has served in full-time vocational ministry since 1994. Glen served 10 years in Cave Spring Baptist Church in Roanoke, Virginia as Associate Pastor – Minister of Education / Administration as well as Interim Pastor. He then moved back to Texas and was the senior pastor of First Baptist Church Iowa Park for more than 15 years.

Glen is married to Jerrye, and they have 2 children and 5 grandchildren.

John McGuire is a Field Representative covering eleven counties in deep East Texas. He joined the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention in 2013.

John served as pastor in East Texas for 32 years, leaving the pastorate after nearly 21 years at First Baptist Church of Garrison in December 2012. He is a 1980 graduate of Tennessee Temple University with further studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

John is married to Suzanne. They live in Nacogdoches and are the parents of Aaron and Ann Marie.

Mitch Kolenovsky currently serves as a Field Representative in South Texas. He joined the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention staff in January 2015.

Prior to answering God’s call to full time ministry, Mitch served as a police officer and polygraph examiner for the Arlington Police Department and was a successful business man. He served in full time evangelism for several years before being called as pastor to Forest Hills Baptist Church in Seguin, where he served for 20 years.

Mitch has a degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Texas in Arlington and an M-Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Mitch is married to Reva, and they have 2 grown daughters and 5 grandchildren.

Paul joined the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention in January of 2021 as the Regional Catalyst for West Texas.

Before joining the SBTC, Paul pastored two churches for over ten years in Texas and Oklahoma and served in several churches across Texas in different ministry roles.

Paul has a bachelors degree from Howard Payne University and two degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; a Masters of Divinity with Biblical Languages and a Doctor of Ministry in Expository Preaching.

Paul is married to his beautiful, better half, Michelle and he has two amazing children, Jonathan and Maddie. He also has two dogs, and a cat, enjoys drinking coffee, reading, watching movies, and going on family adventures.

Shane Kendrix joined the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention in January of 2021 where he is the regional catalyst for northwest Texas.

Previously, he pastored churches in Texas and Oklahoma for 11 years.

Shane graduated with a doctorate of ministry from Andersonville Theological Seminary in 2015.

Steve Cochran serves as the Regional East Texas Catalyst.

Steve is a church planter within the SBTC at CrossWalk Church in Round Rock. He received his Masters of Arts in Religious Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and received his undergraduate degree from Stephen F. Austin State University. He has served in full-time ministry for 40 years and pastored three Texas churches.

Steve is married to Karen and they have four children.

Wayne Frazier serves as a Field Representative in East Texas and joined the SBTC staff in August 2022.

Wayne is the lead pastor of Montalba Baptist Church in Palestine, where he has faithfully served for nearly 20 years. He has led the church in countywide evangelism opportunities, reaching thousands of people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ each year. He also hosts a Pastor’s Care Conference, where pastors from every walk of life experience encouragement and love through godly fellowship and worship.

In addition to being active in pastoral ministry for over 2 decades, Wayne was an SBTC Executive Board member, serving on several special committees throughout his term. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies from Criswell College in 2008 and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Biblical Exposition at Liberty University.

Wayne is married to Jennifer, and they have 10 children.

Willie Hernandez joined the SBTC staff as a Field Representative for South Texas in October 2021.

Willie is currently the pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista, Gregory. He previously pastored in Dallas for 10 years and has served as a minister in several areas, including children, youth and Sunday school. Additionally, he has worked with mission causes in Mexico for 20 years, served pastors in Ciudad Juarez Valley, Mexico and worked for Hope for the Heart in Plano, Texas.

Willie graduated from the Hispanic Baptist Theological Seminary in San Antonio and attended both Criswell College and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

He is married to Laura, and they have 3 children: Willie, Jonathan and Dulce.

Bart serves as executive director of the Southern Baptists of Texas Foundation. He holds a masters of divinity with biblical languages from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a BBA in finance from Texas A&M University. Prior to a calling to ministry, he had a successful career in banking, finance and consulting. Bart served as senior pastor at Tate Springs Baptist Church in Arlington.

Eddie Lopez has been a pastor for two decades; He is the lead teaching pastor for First Baptist Forney Español, with a passion for multiplying gospel-centered churches. He planted five churches in the Fort Worth area and is an active sending church for Send Network SBTC.

 Eddie currently serves as the Lead Church Plant Catalyst for Send Network SBTC and served as a Send Network SBTC coach for three years, helping to lead church planting efforts across the state.

 Eddie has also been entrusted with Baptist denominational leadership, serving as vice president of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC) from 2022 to 2024 and serving as second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) 2024-2025

 Eddie earned his Master of Theology degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2025, and he’s committed to continuing to prepare for his doctoral degree at the same institution.

 Eddie has been married to Zoila for three decades, and they have two daughters, Arianna and Selah.

Jason Crandall serves as the Send Network Director for Send Network SBTC, leading a statewide team committed to glorifying God by reducing lostness through multiplying churches across Texas.

He is the founder and Lead Teaching Pastor of CityView Church in Pearland, Texas, and the author of Proliferate: A Church Planting Strategy for Everyday Churches.

Jason holds a Master of Arts from Liberty University, a Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

He is married to Allison, and together they have three sons—Drew, Blaise, and Judson.