Thomas Hamond

On January 1, 2019, W. Thomas Hammond, Jr. became the executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. Previously, he served as the lead pastor of Alpharetta First Baptist Church from 2013-2018. For several years during his leadership, Alpharetta First Baptist ranked among the top 10% of the fastest-growing churches in the Georgia Baptist Convention, planted three churches, began a Latino and Persian ministry, and increased their giving through the Cooperative Program from 1% to 6%. With a heart for evangelism, Rev. Hammond led Alpharetta First Baptist to baptize over 250 people. Prior to coming to Alpharetta First Baptist, Rev. Hammond served as vice president for Convention Advancement with the SBC Executive Committee; senior director of Church Evangelism with the North American Mission Board; director of missions at the Metrolina Baptist Association in Charlotte, North Carolina; minister of evangelism at Hebron Baptist Church, Dacula, Georgia; and evangelism associate at the Ohio Baptist Convention.Rev. Hammond has also served as president of the Georgia Baptist Convention (2015-2017); and as a trustee at King’s Ridge Christian School in Alpharetta, Georgia, Truett McConnell University in Cleveland, Georgia and LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been a guest lecturer at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Southwestern Theological Seminary, and Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also a chaplain for the Alpharetta police and fire departments.Because of his passion for those who are without Christ, Rev. Hammond as Georgia Baptist Convention president led the Convention to implement The Big Invite campaign, which encouraged Georgia Baptists to invite their lost family and friends to church on Easter Sunday. The goal was to have 1 million Georgians in church on Easter Sunday in 2017. He is also the creator/originator of The NET, Evangelism Planter Software, TheBigDay.org, Praying your Neighbors to Christ, The Visitor Friendly Church, 316 Prayer Card, and One Hour Witness Training. In addition to reaching the lost, Rev. Hammond loves pastors. He encouraged Georgia Baptist pastors to begin praying for one another through the Pastor Prayer Network during his time as the president of the Convention.Rev. Hammond is a graduate of Augusta State University in Augusta, Georgia with a degree in Business Administration and is also a graduate of Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis, Tennessee with a Master of Divinity. He is married to Kerri Russ Hammond and they have two daughters, Katie Elisabeth and Karley Marie.