Terry is a Certified Church Consultant who helps church congregations get healthy using a variety of resources including church and organizational health surveys, community demographic and psychographic analyses, and strategic planning. He’s been an ordained bivocational pastor for the past thirty years and currently serves as Senior Pastor at Burton Hill Baptist Church in Westworth Village, Texas. This neighborhood church is located on the west side of Fort Worth. A native of Austin, Texas, Terry holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Southwest Texas State University, now Texas State University, in San Marcos, Texas. He earned his Master of Divinity degree and his Doctor of Ministry degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
Being bivocational, or sometimes known as co-vocational, means having a secular position in addition to being a minister. Terry spent the first seven years of his secular career as a Main Street Manager involved in downtown revitalization in three cities in Texas and Oklahoma. He then joined the Texas Historical Commission and worked in the areas of preservation-based economic development, Main Street revitalization, and heritage tourism before becoming the Deputy Executive Director of the agency in 1999. He oversaw the day-to-day operations of the agency and 80 staff members before retiring from the state in 2014.
Terry’s volunteer service includes being the past Chairman of the Board of the Hands of Luke Medical Ministries in El Paso, Texas, which administers an orphanage and three nutrition centers in and around Juarez, Mexico. He met Jennifer, now his wife of 38 years, on a summer mission trip there. He also serves as a trustee on the board of the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission – a nonprofit charged with raising funds for special projects of the Texas Historical Commission.
These days Terry uses his background and experience to help churches get healthy and well-positioned for ministry. And of particular interest are those small congregations housed in historic church structures.