OUR STAFF
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Mark Hearn
SENIOR PASTOR
Mark is a native of Pulaski, Virginia where he accepted Christ and was baptized. It was there that he was ordained into the ministry and has served as pastor in six other churches prior to coming to First Baptist Duluth, Georgia. Previously, he was the Senior Pastor of Northside Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. He has been President of the State Convention of Baptists in Indiana and a Trustee for Lifeway Christian Resources. He has written 2 books: Technicolor and Hearing in Technicolor, which chronicle the journey of First Baptist Duluth from mono- to multi-cultural ministry. Mark earned his Master of Divinity degree from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Doctorate of Ministry from Luther Rice Seminary. Mark is married to Glenda and they have four daughters and 10 grandchildren.
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Todd Jones
STUDENT AND FAMILY PASTOR
An Atlanta native, Todd is a graduate of the University of West Georgia and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is married to Jennifer, and they have 2 sons and 1 daughter. Todd has served in four different churches in the metro area before coming to First Baptist on April of 2014. He loves anything Disney, Georgia Tech, or Beach related. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and kids, reading, and listening to music.
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Enrico Cakranata
GLOBAL / WORSHIP PASTOR
Enrico is originally from Indonesia, and you can call him Rico. Prior to serving at FBC Duluth, he was the Minister of music at First Baptist Church Chillicothe, MO. He earned his bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Indonesia in 2002 and worked for a bank and a finance company until 2010. God then called him into full-time ministry and equipped him with 2 Master degrees, a Doctor of Ministry, and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Theological Education, all from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, MO. He loves to play the saxophone and collects die-cast cars and food hunting with the family. He is married to Yuli, who also serves as the church pianist, and they have four children and two corgis.
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Jason Thomas
COMMUNITY/DISCIPLESHIP PASTOR
Jason is a Louisiana native and a graduate of Southeastern Louisiana University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity in Church Planting North America. Before joining First Baptist Duluth, he served several years with the International Mission Board (IMB) of the SBC as an African American Church Mobilization Strategist, and before that, as Baptist Collegiate Ministry Director with Louisiana Baptists. He has served in two other churches in Louisiana in discipleship, leadership, and prayer. Jason loves reading, watching movies, and exploring with his wife, Gaynel.
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SoYoung Lee
DIRECTOR OF CHILDREN’S AND PRESCHOOL MINISTRIES
SoYoung grew up in Seoul, Korea and graduated from Ewha Womans University with B.A in Christian Studies & M.A in Christian Education. She is also a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX with M.A. in Christian Education, concentration in Childhood Education. Her calling and passion is to set before each child the “Light of the Word ''-who is Jesus-the only one who can save them, guide them, and keep them confident and sure, both now and forever! She joined First Baptist Duluth in summer 2014 and loves to serve the Lord and reach out to people in both church and weekday preschool. SoYoung and her husband KJ have two daughters, Claire & Caitlyne. She enjoys hiking and spending time with her family & friends!
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Seung-hee (Cindy) Rhe
ONE VOICE MINISTRY DIRECTOR
Cindy has three homes - South Korea where she was born and raised, Logos II, a mission ship of OM, where she served God as a missionary sailing 40 countries with other missionaries from 35 nations. And America where she is found to be used with everything God has given according to what her name means – “Connecting girl”- through language ministries in FBCD. She graduated from Ewha Woman’s University in Korea, got the Master’s in Pastoral Counseling in Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary along with Teaching English as a Second Language Certificate from Liberty University. She is married to Jeong-doo (Tom) Rhe, and they are proud parents of their 3 sons, Joseph, Joel, and Daniel.
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Kesa Brown
FAMILY MINISTRY COORDINATOR and STUDENT MINISTRY ASSOCIATE
Kesa is originally from Jamaica and graduated with her Bachelor's degree from Georgia Gwinnett College. She is currently working on her Masters at Kennesaw State University in Cybersecurity. She has 5 years of Student Ministry experience and enjoys working with students and bringing families together in the Lord. In her free time, she enjoys working with technology, movies, and traveling.
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John Hawkins
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
John grew up as a missionary kid in Brazil and has lived in Suwanee since 2000. He graduated from NC State with an electrical engineering degree in telecommunications from Southern Methodist and an MBA from Duke. He and his wife Kimberly have two grown boys and one very cute granddaughter. He is an avid philatelist, loves tinkering around the house, and enjoys traveling all over.
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Julie Kelley
OFFICE MANAGER
Julie, a resident of Georgia since 2015, is originally from New Jersey and is a mother of three lovely daughters and a Brittnepoo named Tux. Julie holds a Bachelor's in Reverse Logistics Management from American Public University. On Sundays, Julie serves at First Baptist Atlanta in the "Next Steps" Ministry in the Decision Room and has served in the Women's Ministry and Children's Ministry for many years. Julie is excited to see how The Lord will use her at FBCD.
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Vera Sheffer
WEEKDAY PRESCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR
Vera Sheffer is serving as our Preschool Administrator. Vera is originally from Mobile, Alabama, but has lived in Duluth since 2022. She has taught in a Christian preschool for over five years. She loves teaching children and being able to work in a Christian environment.
She is married to her husband Mark, going on 16 years, and they have three wonderful boys, Thomas (14), Stone (9), and Layne (3). The Sheffer family joined as a family at FBCD a year ago. They enjoy serving and worshiping in our church and feel the Lord Jesus has blessed them tremendously with a church home like FBCD.
OUR MISSION
TO BE A UNITED COMMUNITY OF FAITH THAT LOVES, REACHES, AND DISCIPLES ALL PEOPLE FOR JESUS CHRIST.
OUR MOTIVES
1. Worshiping Community – we are a worshiping community because God created us and desires for us to be in relationship with Him and others. (Isaiah 43:21)
2. Missional Community – we are a missional community because our world needs a demonstration of God’s forgiving and healing love in words and actions. (John 13:35)
3. Inclusive Community – we are an inclusive community because following Jesus demands we overcome barriers of gender, language, race, class, age, and culture. (John 12:32)
4. Generous Community – we are a generous community because of our gratitude for the giving nature of God. (2 Cor. 8:7)
5. Just Community – we are a just community because following Jesus involves confronting the world’s evils and restoring biblical truth (or justice). (Micah 6:8)
OUR MEASURES
1. When we are ministering with “all people” and not just ministering to “all people”.
2. When our congregation is increasingly engaged in CROSS-training
3. When local community leaders seek our church for answers to community issues
OUR BELIEFS
Further amplification of the following articles may be found in the doctrinal statement of the “Baptist Faith and Message” as adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention in 2000.
The Scriptures
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is the record of God’s revelation of Himself to man. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.
Salvation
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense, salvation includes regeneration, sanctification, and glorification.
The Church
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of baptized believers who are associated by the covenant in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ, committed to His teachings, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth.
The Lord’s Day
The first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance.
Last Things
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.
Peace and War
It is the duty of Christians to seek peace with all men on principles of righteousness. In accordance with the spirit and teachings of Christ they should do all in their power to put an end to war.
Education
An adequate system of Christian school is necessary to a complete spiritual program of Christ’s people. In Christian education there should be a proper balance between academic freedom and academic responsibility.
God
There is one and only one living and true God. The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes but without any mixture of error, for its matter.
God the Father
God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
God the Son
Christ is the eternal Son of God. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin.
God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgement. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church.
The Kingdom
The Kingdom of God includes both His general sovereignty over the universe and His particular kingship over men who willfully acknowledge Him as King.
Evangelism and Missions
It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations.
Stewardship
God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. According to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer’s cause on earth.
The Christian and the Social Order
Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love.
Man
In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by His Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God.
God’s Purpose of Grace
It is a glorious display of God’s sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable. All true believers endure to the end.
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. An act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believers’ death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.
The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
Religious Liberty
God alone is Lord of the conscience and He has left it free from doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it. Church and state should be separate. Civil government being obtained by God, it is the duty of Christians to render loyal obedience thereto in all things not contrary to the revealed will of God. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal.
Cooperation
Cooperation is desirable between the various Christian denominations, when the end to be attained is itself justified, and when such cooperation involves no violation of conscience or compromise of loyalty to Christ and His Word as revealed in the New Testament.
OUR STORY
Duluth Baptist Church was organized on February 13, 1886. The original building was constructed for $500 on land donated by J.E. New. In 1901 the membership totaled 85. The original building was destroyed by fire on July 21, 1947. Church members began the effort to rebuild, including donating material and labor. The distinctive granite building, still standing in Downtown Duluth, was completed in 1950. The church relocated to its current location in 1978, and In 1988, the current worship center was completed.
In the late 1990s-early 2000s, the demographics of Duluth began to change drastically. Suddenly, First Baptist Duluth found itself in one of the most diverse zip codes in the country! In 2011, Senior Pastor Mark Hearn attended the “State of the City” address by our mayor and First Baptist church member, Nancy Harris. In sharing about the diversity of the community in which we live, she stated that there are 57 different languages spoken at Duluth High School.
That day, a line was drawn in the sand, and a commitment was made to learn how to cross language and cultural barriers to sharing the life-changing message of Jesus Christ.
Today, First Baptist Duluth has active members from about 52 nations, which keeps rising! This journey has been chronicled in Atlanta Magazine, Facts and Trends, Gwinnett Daily Post, and the Wall Street Journal. To learn more about our journey, check out Pastor Mark Hearn's books Technicolor and Hearing in Technicolor. Here at First Baptist Duluth, we like to say that we get to see a glimpse of heaven every Sunday, based on Revelation 7:9-10: "After this, I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!"