Hamilton County Baptist Association leader Dennis Culbreth will be leaving his role early next year, he announced.
A longtime pastor, Culbreth, who unveiled his decision Wednesday, has since 2015 been the association’s director of missions — its top job.
The Hamilton County Baptist Association runs a number of ministries and seeks to support the work of and bind together 100-plus member churches in the region. It has ties to the Southern Baptist Convention, though not all of its member churches do.
Culbreth was described upon his hiring as a “bridge-builder,” and he told the Chattanooga Times Free Press at the time that he left his large former church for the new job in part because he wanted to help out other pastors.
Now, he will be returning to the Birmingham area, he said in the association’s email newsletter.
He cited he and his wife Marybeth’s desire to relocate closer to their children. He added that he will take a job pastoring Montevallo First Baptist Church, which is south of Birmingham.
“I will leave the Hamilton County Baptist Association in good shape,” Culbreth wrote in the newsletter. “Our churches are incredibly supportive and engaged. The various ministries that are a part of the association are strong. The financial picture is extremely healthy. We have a great staff who will continue to serve in their roles to keep things moving forward. We have excellent leadership in our committees and officers. The next director of missions will inherit a ministry that is ready to move to the next level.
“I will miss you all. This has been a wonderful place to serve, and I do believe we have the best pastors and churches of any association of the SBC,” he continued. “May God bless you and continue to use you to reach people with the Gospel.”
Contact Andrew Schwartz at aschwartz@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6431.