Derek Allen, pastor of First Baptist Church Tillman’s Corner in Mobile, has been named executive director-elect of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions. He was approved today (Aug. 11) during the regularly scheduled SBOM board of trustees meeting in Prattville.
The Executive Director Transition and Search Team, which presented Allen as their unanimously approved candidate, began their work in February after current SBOM executive director Rick Lance announced he planned to retire in January 2027.
Lance has served in the position for nearly 30 years, coming to the executive director-elect role in July 1998 and then taking the helm in February 1999 after then-executive director Troy Morrison’s retirement.
The call to state missions is “a life-changing experience,” Lance said at his 20th anniversary in the role. As he looks toward his retirement date, he said he is committed to working with SBOM leadership to ensure a smooth and seamless transition.
“This is my commitment to the State Board of Missions and the Alabama Baptist family,” he said. “I am sincerely thankful for the opportunity to serve the Lord with Alabama Baptists throughout all these years. I embrace the words of the Apostle Paul speaking to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:24, ‘I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me — the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.’”
The transition and search team, chaired by Buddy Champion, pastor of FBC Trussville and a past president of the state convention, said they spent months praying, evaluating and seeking the Lord’s direction. The team did not report how many people applied but said they received resumés from “many highly qualified candidates.”
Allen ‘deeply humbled’
Allen, who is a native of Etowah County and served as a church planter in Miami prior to joining the staff of FBC Tillman’s Corner in 2019, said, “I am deeply humbled by the opportunity to be considered for this assignment.
“Over the past several years, the Lord has worked in my heart and life to create a deep sense of calling to serve as the next executive director of Alabama Baptists,” he said. “I accepted the nomination because I believe it would be disobedient for me not to pursue the opportunity. At the same time, I did not go into today’s meeting presuming upon the outcome.
“I trust the Lord’s wisdom and sovereignty over this process, and I receive the decision with gratitude and confidence in the Lord’s direction for our family of churches,” Allen shared with The Alabama Baptist.
“I have a deep love for Alabama Baptists because this convention has played such a significant role in my own life and ministry,” he said. “Alabama Baptists invested in my family, taught me the gospel, helped prepare me for ministry, and supported us when the Lord called us to plant a church in Miami.”
A Jacksonville State University alum, Allen holds multiple advanced degrees from three Southern Baptist seminaries — New Orleans, Southern and Midwestern — including two doctor of philosophy degrees.
“With the State Board affirming my nomination, I will step into the role with tremendous humility and a deep sense of responsibility,” he said. “I believe our primary task is to strengthen Baptist churches in Alabama and faithfully steward the cooperative missions giving of Alabama Baptists so that we can advance the gospel in Alabama, across North America and around the world.”
Calling ‘clear’ for family too
Allen’s wife, Lindsay, said she and their five children have realized the Lord working in their hearts regarding the calling as well.
“The Lord has graciously made this calling clear to me for some time now as I have witnessed both Derek’s leadership and his burden for our state grow,” she said. “The Lord has given him a voice of influence with pastors, and he has stewarded that voice well and with integrity by encouraging Alabama Baptist pastors.
“For me, the clearest evidence that God was preparing Derek for this role was his humble response to the many people who asked him to apply for the position,” Lindsay shared. “Dozens of people over the course of the application period reached out to him to encourage him to apply. He was always surprised when someone thought of him as a potential candidate. He kept telling me, ‘I am going to apply out of obedience to God’s leading, but I know there have to be so many other more qualified men for this position.’
“Throughout the entire process, Derek has submitted to whatever God’s will might be, but I never saw any pride or sense of entitlement for the position; rather, I saw the opposite. He has voiced the sobering weight of this responsibility.
“In our life and ministry, we have been in the habit of asking God to do things in our lives that can only be explained by His hand at work so that we could never be tempted to take credit for it,” Lindsay added. “I believe this is another one of those times. God is doing something that requires a level of trust, submission and obedience that God has been preparing Derek for over many years in His walk with Christ.”
Shadowing Lance through January
The Allens were presented first to the SBOM executive committee and then to the full board for a time of discussion prior to the vote.
The SBOM executive director is elected by SBOM’s board of trustees and does not require a vote by the messengers at the state convention annual meeting. Allen will operate under the title executive director-elect for the next five months as he and Lance shift into transition mode.
By nature of the position, SBOM’s executive director also serves as treasurer of the state convention. Lance will retain the treasurer role through his retirement date of Jan. 31, 2027.
Transition and Search Team
Transition and search team members serving along with Champion are Jim Cooley of FBC Birmingham, Ben Hayes of FBC Dadeville, Chad Hess of Woodmont Baptist in Florence, Neal Hughes of Montgomery Baptist Association, Allen Singley of Pilgrim Home Baptist in Newton, Ben Stubblefield of Spring Hill Baptist in Mobile, Derek Staples of FBC Jacksonville and James Watkins of West End Baptist in Clanton.
Serving as voting ex-officio members of the team are Jim Graham, SBOM chair; Jarman Leatherwood, president of the state convention; Craig Carlisle, immediate past president of the state convention; and Jamie McGlaughn, president of Alabama WMU.
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