Jerry Sutton

Sutton, accomplished Southern Baptist Convention pastor and administrator, serves on the executive staff at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary as dean and vice president of academics.

Sutton has experience in a variety of ministerial spheres. A Southwestern Seminary graduate, Sutton earned his Ph.D. in church history with minors in preaching and Greek New Testament. He served as the senior pastor of Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville, Tenn., from 1986 until 2008 and has taught courses at multiple SBC seminaries, including an adjunct professorship at Midwestern.

In 2005, Sutton became the first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Since his retirement from Two Rivers, he has served in the classroom as associate professor of Christian proclamation and pastoral theology at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and Graduate School in Lynchburg, Va. He has also served as a trustee at LifeWay Christian Resources and as president of the SBC Pastors’ Conference.

A respected historian, Sutton authored the authoritative account of the conservative resurgence, The Baptist Reformation. He has published a resource for individuals seeking spiritual rededication entitled The Way Back Home, and his work, A Matter of Conviction: A History of Southern Baptist Engagement with the Culture, stands as both a historic description and centennial commemoration of the denomination’s interaction with American culture. His latest book, A Primer on Biblical Preaching, serves as the textbook for Liberty Theological Seminary's homiletics course.

He and his wife, Fern, have two adult daughters.