The First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach, Fla., voted to call Jimmy Scroggins, dean of Boyce College, as its senior pastor earlier this month.
Scroggins has served as dean of Boyce, the undergraduate institution of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, since January 2004 and Southern President R. Albert Mohler Jr. said the news is bittersweet.
“This is a sad day for Southern Seminary in that it will bring to a close Dr. Scroggins’ outstanding leadership as Dean of Boyce College,” he said. “But, in reality, this is in every way reason for our pride in Dr. Scroggins and our excitement to see what God will do through his pastoral leadership of that great congregation.”
Scroggins earned both his master of divinity and Ph.D. from Southern and his bachelor’s degree from Jacksonville University in Florida. Scroggins vacates a teaching pastor position at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, where he has served since 1997.
Mohler said though the departure of Scroggins is a loss on both a professional and personal level, the position he is filling is an excellent ministry opportunity.
“At the personal level, I just can’t express how much I will miss him,” he said. “He is a great friend as well as a cherished colleague. Many others will share this loss.
But, even more than this, I am just so proud of him. Right now the best thing we can do is to congratulate him and pray for God’s blessings on his new ministry.”
Mohler said he has begun the search for Scroggins’ replacement at Boyce.
“I invite you to send me any suggestion as we get this important search underway. God made provision for First Baptist West Palm, and He will make a wonderful provision for Boyce College as well.”