George Wright named new pastor at Shades Mountain Baptist Church

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Shades Mountain Baptist Church on Sunday voted to call a pastor from South Carolina as the new senior pastor to follow longtime Pastor Danny Wood, who is retiring.

Shades Mountain chose George Wright, who has served as senior pastor at Shandon Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina, for more than four years. Before that, Wright planted Cedarcrest Church in Acworth, Georgia and pastored there for 11 years.

Wright preached at Shades Mountain Baptist Sunday morning, and the church voted to call him as their pastor in a business meeting the same day.

Wright, a native of Atlanta, earned his bachelor’s degree in business from the University of South Carolina before attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He served as the eighth grade pastor at Fellowship Church in Dallas during seminary and, upon graduation, became the teaching pastor at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia.

After planting Cedarcrest Church, nearly 50% of the members who joined had never been part of a church before, according to information provided by Shades Mountain Baptist.

“We could not be any more excited,” Wright said to a room full of congregants following a Get to Know You event Sunday evening, according to a press release from the church. “What God has done in our family and in our lives these last few months has been a true gift from the Lord. … We are thrilled to join the family here, and we can’t wait to get started.”

Wright met his wife, Megan, at the University of South Carolina, and they married in 2001. They have four children: McKenna, Brody, Anna Beth and Everett.

Shades Mountain spent six months searching for a new senior pastor after Wood announced in January he would be retiring. The church hired Vanderbloemen, an executive search firm that specializes in ministry organizations, to assist in conducting the process. Nearly 100 names were vetted with a nine-person search committee.

“We’re thrilled with the place God has brought us,” said Steve Foster, chairman of the pastor search committee. “It’s with great anticipation God will continue his work through Shades Mountain Baptist Church under George’s leadership.”

Wright is scheduled to begin at Shades Mountain Baptist on Aug. 16 and preach his first sermon there Sept. 12.

Submitted by Shades Mountain Baptist Church

Shades Crest Baptist Church also called a new pastor on Sunday, June 27. Read about him here.