Davis, interim FBC pastor, ‘humbly surprised’ by offer
First Baptist Concord has a new interim senior pastor while the church continues its search for a permanent leader.
The Rev. Dr. Randy Davis of Nolensville preached for the first time this past Sunday, Dec. 10, at the both the 9 and 10:45 a.m. services.
The Rev. John Avant, former senior pastor, resigned in August to lead Life Action Ministries, and the church currently has an active pastor search committee at work.
Davis is no stranger to East Tennessee. The Alabama native pastored First Baptist Church in Morristown and then First Baptist Church in Sevierville — totaling more than 18 years at both.
“So, anytime I get to come back to East Tennessee is a good thing,” he said in a phone interview.
Davis was called to his current position, as executive director for the Tennessee Baptist Missions Board near Nashville, in 2010.
The pastor plans to continue working both jobs, and said he plans to drive each week from Nolensville, which is near Nashville, to Farragut on Saturdays, then returning late Sunday or Monday.
Davis said he had suggested several names to First Baptist Concord’s pastor search committee, and “was humbly surprised when they asked me to consider it,” he said.
He said he was not seeking the position himself, but, “I prayed long and hard about it, and I feel like this is a door the Lord has opened.”
Davis and his wife, Jeanne, have two married daughters, Wendy and Beth, and four grandchildren.
“It will take discipline, but I feel up to the task,” he said. “The Lord will give us strength in what we need to do.”
Dr. Davis was 16 when he felt the call to preach, and he said church pastoring was all he “ever had the heart to do” until he was called to his current position with the Tennessee Missions Board.
“My heart is that of a shepherd’s heart, but the Lord called me away from the local church to work with a network of churches across the state,” he shared.
He told the leadership at First Baptist Concord that he enjoys “pastoring pastors” in his current role.
Dr. Davis said he is not sure how long his interim assignment will last.
“Searches for new pastors can vary,” he said.
In the meantime, he said he is looking forward to “giving my very best to preaching and teaching the word” at First Baptist Concord.
