The Rev. Julie Pennington-Russell

Denomination: Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF)
Organization: First Baptist Church, Decatur, GA

The Rev. Julie Pennington-Russell is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Decatur, GA.

Julie came to Decatur First Baptist in August of 2007. Before moving to Decatur Julie served as pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Waco, TX, and Nineteenth Avenue Baptist Church in San Francisco, CA. Julie is married to Tim Pennington-Russell, a website designer and sometimes poet and bass player. They have two teenage children, Taylor and Lucy. Willie the bulldog completes the family. Because of their ridiculously long last name, many people simply refer to the Pennington-Russells as "The P-Rs."

Julie received her B.A. in Communicative Disorders from the University of Central Florida in Orlando in 1981; an M.Div. From the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, California, in 1985; and is in the final phase of completing a D.Min. at Baylor's George W. Truett Baptist Theological Seminary. She loves the poetry of Billy Collins, movies about redemption and second chances, long dinners with friends, Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk and jotting down notes for that book she's been writing for about 20 years. Mostly Julie is crazy about the Church and loves to lean with the people of God toward "big picture, kingdom of God stuff."