Pastor Willie J. Black 

Elder Willie J. Black is a native of Thomasville, Georgia. In the summer of 1982, accepted Jesus as his personal Saviour and was baptized into the Adventist Church. He began his preparation for ministry at Oakwood University in 1984 and graduated in 1988 with a Bachelors degree in Theology and a minor in History. He received a Masters degree from Southern Adventist University in Church Growth and Evangelism in 2003. 

Pastor Black has served in the pastoral ministry of the South Central Conference for 26 years. During this time, he has helped three churches retire mortgages, led groups to Mississippi and New Orleans to help rebuild homes of individuals devastated by Hurricane Katrina and he continually works to anchor believers in Jesus. Elder Black presently shepherds the First Seventh-day Adventist churches in the Bessemer/Brent District.

Elder Black has a passion for soul winning and loves International Evangelism. Over the years he has conducted evangelistic crusades in places such as Cape Town South Africa, Mexico, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Ghana, St. Lucia, and the Continental U.S. While working and cooperating with leaders from around the world, Pastor Black has been privileged to share in leading of thousands of souls to Christ. He is committed to preaching the gospel anywhere in the world to anyone who will listen.

For 35 years, Elder Black has been married to Karen Hitchens, an Educator from San Diego, CA. He is the father of one son, James Anthony who is 27 years old. 

Elder Black’s greatest desire is to introduce as many people as he can to Jesus Christ. If asked his mission, Elder Black would say, “He is just a Nobody, trying to tell Everybody, about Somebody, who can save Anybody.”