EDITOR’S NOTE: Cody Hensley, pastor of Twin Lakes Church, and Garrett Mills, pastor of Montgomery Church, joined Mississippi Baptist Convention Board’s “Around the Table” hosts Tanner Cade, director of communication services, and Jon Martin, chief strategy officer, to discuss the necessity of change and leadership in a large organization.
Transitioning into the lead pastor role comes with a series of unknowns.
Cody Hensley, pastor at Twin Lakes church in Madison, Mississippi, and Garrett Mills, pastor at Montgomery Church in Summit, recently made the leap from student ministry to pastoral ministry.
Hensley, originally from Oklahoma, was called to ministry during high school. After working in youth and family ministries for several years, the Lord called him to the lead pastor role at Twin Lakes Church.
Mills grew up in Neshoba County. As a youth, he became the unspoken intern for his church and was allowed to occasionally teach. After working with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, he was called to FBC Newton, where he was under the leadership of senior pastor Lee Thaler.
Heart check
From the beginning of their calls to ministry, the Holy Spirit stirred in their hearts that one day the Lord would lead them to shepherd a flock.
“I went into seminary thinking I wanted to do student ministry, but something about what I was learning really impressed my heart that the Lord was calling me to pastoral ministry. … And so I felt like the Lord was also impressing on me to go into student ministry and just learn and to be developed by pastors to see things, how they worked,” Hensley said.
“But then [Thaler] left and went back to his home church and that left us without a pastor. In that transition, I quickly became the most tenured person there, so a lot of people were looking to me and I got to preach a whole lot more. For whatever reason, I just feel like God’s transitioning [me] to this specific role,” Mills said.
Both men sought counsel from their community before seeking pastoral positions. They understood the importance of checking their hearts for any wrong intentions.
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To listen to the full “Around the Table” episode visit- Podcasts – Mississippi Baptist Convention Board (mbcb.org).
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Chloe Newton and originally published by the Baptist Record.
