Pastor's Corner

A brief bio of Dr. Rogers
Dr. Jeffrey S. Rogers has been senior minister of First Baptist Greenville since July 1, 2001. Known by most of the congregation as Jeff, he has been a member since shortly after his arrival in Greenville in 1988. His wife, Bev, has been FBC's minister to children since 1995, and his three children, Marshall, Graham and Heath, are active participants in Sunday School and youth and college activities.
Born in Philadelphia, Jeff spent his formative years in Hickory, North Carolina, where his father, a Lutheran minister, was chaplain at Lenoir-Rhyne University. He became a Baptist during his college years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He completed his bachelor’s degree in English at North Carolina Central University in Durham in 1980. His graduate degrees are from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (M. Div., 1983) and Princeton Theological Seminary (Ph.D., 1992). He was ordained in 1981 at Ephesus Baptist Church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He served as part-time minister of music and minister of music and youth during his college and seminary years and as pastor of Lea Bethel Baptist Church in Prospect Hill, North Carolina, from 1983 to 1985.
Furman University became his academic home in 1988 when he began teaching in his specialty, biblical studies. He soon became known far beyond the confines of Furman as a teacher, writer and speaker. A few of his activities outside the classroom included sermons and lectures at the Furman Pastors School (three years), the keynote address at the 1999 Christian Higher Education Luncheon at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly, keynote preacher (twice) of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of South Carolina General Assembly, author of chapters in scholarly monographs, author of papers in scholarly journals, co-author of a handbook on biblical Hebrew grammar, and writer of numerous book reviews. He served on the National Network Board of the Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts, on the Governing Board of the South Carolina Network for Educational Renewal, on the Steering Committee for Old Testament/Hebrew Bible in the Society of Biblical Literature (Southeast Region), and as president of the South Carolina Academy of Religion. From 1998 until accepting the call to FBC Greenville, Dr. Rogers was assistant and associate academic dean of Furman University. He and a faculty colleague co-wrote a $2 million grant funded by the Lilly Endowment, Inc., to establish a Center for Theological Exploration of Vocation, of which he was co-director. In the Greenville community, he has served on the Education Plan Steering Committee for the School District of Greenville County and on the Sub-committee on Teacher Quality of the Alliance for Quality Education. In 2003, he was a member of the inaugural class of the Diversity Leadership Initiative of the Richard W. Riley Institute for Government, Politics and Public Leadership at Furman University. In 2008-2009, he served as honorary co-chair of the Upstate South Carolina United Negro College Fund Salute to Education.
His guest columns have appeared in the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Durham (N.C.) Herald-Sun, the Greenville (S.C.) News, and the Greenville (S.C.) Journal. His book, Building a House for All God’s Children: Diversity Leadership in the Church, was published in 2008 by Abingdon Press. He periodically posts sermons and other items on his blog at www.pulpitbytes.blogspot.com.

Quick Facts about Dr. Rogers
Professional/Educational Background:
Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Princeton Theological Seminary
M.Div. with Languages from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
B.A. in English from North Carolina Central University
Thing you like most about your job:
Being a part of "what really matters" in people's lives

Favorite books:
As a child: Go Dog! Go! by P.D. Eastman

In college: Steps to an Ecology of Mind, by Gregory Bateson

As an adult: When Religion Becomes Evil, by Charles Kimball

Favorite Movie: The Lion King

Favorite Things to Do: Go to the beach; QT with Marshall, Graham and Heath; work in the yard; play golf

Meaningful scripture/life verse: Psalm 19:14; 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

" What I like most about First Baptist Greenville is that we don't have to look alike or think alike or be alike to be taken in and respected and cared for and loved. We are a 'whosoever-will' kind of congregation."