JAMES FISK GENTRY, JR.

Born on September 21, 1956, Jimmy Gentry is a native of Cadiz, KY.

On Sunday, August 11, 1974, Jimmy made a public commitment, during worship at his home church, Cadiz Baptist Church in Cadiz, KY, to give his life to serving Christ in vocational ministry, acknowledging to that beloved faith community that had nurtured him, his call from the Lord.  He was 17 years old.

He graduated from Trigg County High School in Cadiz in 1975 and received a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Religious Studies and a minor in History from Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY, in 1979.  He earned the Master of Divinity in 1982 and the Doctor of Ministry in 1993 from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY.  His doctoral thesis and ministry project were entitled Implementing an Alternative Approach to Southern Baptist Denominationalism through the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship at Lewis Lane Baptist Church in Owensboro, KY.

 On January 1, 2016, Jimmy became the ninth Pastor of Garden Lakes Baptist Church.  His journey officially concluded on August 31, 2024.  His last Sunday was August 11 – the 50th Anniversary of his public commitment to serve as a vocational minister.  The eight years and eight months marked his tenure as the third longest pastorate of the nine, since the church’s founding in May 1957.

He writes a devotional called The Lord’s Day Reflections that is posted each Sunday via social media and distributed to more than 250 persons by email (you can subscribe on this website).  He writes an occasional op-ed piece for the Rome News-Tribune.  He is engaged in other writing endeavors, as well.

From September 20, 2015-December 31, 2015, he ministered as Interim Pastor of Harlem Baptist Church in Harlem, GA, a community just west of Augusta and adjacent to Ft. Gordon.

 Jimmy has been an ecumenically minded Christian pastor in the Baptist tradition.  Over the course of nearly 48 years, he pastored six unique congregations, including Garden Lakes Baptist Church.

 The other five are:  Tabernacle Baptist Church, Carrollton, GA (December 31, 2000-March 31, 2014); Springfield Baptist Church, Springfield, TN (June 11, 1995-December 30, 2000); Lewis Lane Baptist Church, Owensboro, KY (April 16, 1987-June 10, 1995); Greenwood Baptist Church, Bowling Green, KY (July 1, 1983-April 15, 1987); and Emmanuel Baptist Chapel, the mission church of First Baptist Church, Bowling Green, KY (November 15, 1976-June 30, 1983).

He also served as Summer Minister to Youth at Edgewood Baptist Church in Hopkinsville, KY from May-August 1976.

Jimmy’s community involvement has included serving on Mental Health, Family Connections, Habitat for Humanity, and Salvation Army Advisory Boards, a Homeless Task Force, and as a member of and participant in One Community United of Rome.  He also was a member of local ministerial alliances in Bowling Green, Owensboro, Springfield, and Carrollton.  He has ministered as a Volunteer Hospice Chaplain.

He is active in Rotary International and is currently a member of the Seven Hills Rotary Club of Rome.  He served as President of the Seven Hills Club from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019. 

Throughout his career, Jimmy has participated denominationally through the Baptist History and Heritage Society, Baptist World Alliance, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Southern Baptist Convention.  He was a member of the first National Coordinating Council of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship from May 1991-May 1993.  He served, again, on the National Coordinating Council from July 2007-June 2010.  He was a member of the Coordinating Council of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Georgia from May 2004-May 2007 and served as Moderator of the CBF of Georgia from November 2011-November 2012.  Jimmy was a Founding Member of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Kentucky in 1991.

He was also a member of the Academy of Parish Clergy, an internationally inclusive community of professional religious leaders who served in various roles in spiritual communities of all sizes and in a variety of settings.  It stressed collegiality across faith traditions and among various styles of ministry, supporting and promoting excellence in spiritual, scholarly, and relational ministry.  After more than 50 years, the Academy concluded its work in February 2023.

Jimmy has had numerous articles, Bible studies, book reviews, and sermons published in various journals and newspapers.  A series of seven devotionals by Jimmy appeared in the Adult Reflections Devotional Guide published by Smyth & Helwys, June 5-June 11, 2016.  He wrote four Sunday School Lessons for Smyth & Helwys’s Connections Series Bible Study Teaching Guide and Study Guide, which were published in June 2017.

Some of his hobbies and interests are:  Jogging and running in 5K and 10K races and half-marathons (when not injured!); going to CrossFit at Rome Strength and Fitness five to seven days a week; watching sports – especially St. Louis Cardinals baseball, Western Kentucky University Hilltopper baseball, basketball, and football, and the University of Alabama Crimson Tide baseball, basketball, and football; yard work; reading; fine arts (symphony, jazz, and theatre); music from 1956–1980 (folk, rock, and soul); writing (hymns and poetry, in particular); and doing nothing.

Jimmy married Jacqueline Kay Miller on December 18, 1982.  A native of Owensboro, KY, Jackie was born on June 14, 1960 in Socorro, NM.  She holds a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education (1983) and a Master of Arts in Reading (1990) from Western Kentucky University.  She also earned an Associate of Science in Nursing from Georgia Highlands College in 2019.  Jackie is a Registered Nurse and is employed by Harbin Clinic in Rome as an Infusion Nurse.  

The Gentrys are blessed with two adult children:  A married daughter, Emily Kay Browning, age 37, who lives with her husband, Robert Matthew (age 39), in Carrollton, GA and a son, Nicholas Fisk, age 34, who lives in Baltimore, MD.  They have three granddaughters:  Charlotte, age 10; Julia, age 8; and Maggie, age 5.  The Gentrys, along with their 12-year-old Yorkie-Pomeranian mix dog, Truman, live in Rome, GA.

They are members of First Baptist Church in Rome.  Jimmy is the teacher for a Sunday radio broadcast called the “Scrap Iron Bible Study Program,” which is a ministry of First Baptist Church.  The program airs from 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. each Lord’s Day on Rome’s WLAQ Radio – 1410 AM and 96.9 FM – and can be lived streamed at www.wlaq1410.com.