BBAonline connects church to minister

Randell Trammell was making plans to move from Atlanta to Birmingham. Early this spring he was enrolling in Beeson Divinity School at Samford University to begin earning a masters of divinity in the fall.

After returning to Georgia from another planning trip to Samford, Randell revisited the BBA’s web site to continue learning more about the Birmingham area and its local churches. A new feature caught his attention — the listing of church staff vacancies.

He began to check the listings regularly, sending emails to the listed contacts at a few of the churches.

"It was much more convenient than driving back and forth [to visit churches]," Randell said.

Randell was the first of several people to reply to an associate pastor listing from Sam Fitts, pastor of Tarrant First Baptist Church.

Sam had been pastor at Tarrant for several months and was easing into a search for an associate to work primarily with the youth and children. He heard about the new online service at a BBA ministers conference and through an email announcement. Sam decided to list Tarrant’s staff vacancy.

"It was simple — just plug in. If you can get online you can do it," Sam said.

"We’d emailed several times before meeting," he said. "I really knew what I wanted, and I think I knew what the church needed."

Randell preached in the morning service a few weeks ago, and the church called him to be the new associate pastor and minister of youth, children, and education.

Randell stressed the role that BBAonline played in his finding a place of service: "It was the crucial link in us finding each other [minister and church]."

Sam plans to continue utilizing the service: "If I find myself in the position of looking for other personnel, this is the link I’m going to use."

Click here to register a vacancy at your church or view open positions at participating BBA churches.