Jeff Rogers
Has enjoyed more than 30 years of service and leadership in the church and the academy. He began his academic career as a member of the Religion Department at Furman University in Greenville, S.C., where he also served as Assistant and Associate Academic Dean before accepting the call to become senior pastor of Greenville's First Baptist Church, a "birthplace of seminaries" and the church home of Furman presidents. He returned to academic life to serve as the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C., where he also served as Associate Provost for Digital Learning and for Extended Campus Programs.
The author or editor of six books and numerous articles in refereed journals and standard reference works such as the Anchor Bible Dictionary, New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, and New Interpreter’s Handbook of Preaching, he earned a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, N.J.; an M.Div. from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.; and a B.A. from North Carolina Central University in Durham, N.C.
Experience
Strategic, tactical, and operational wisdom garnered along the way by working from the bottom up in the church and in the academy.
Academic Experience
Furman University
Known to students and colleagues alike as an engaging and energetic classroom teacher, Jeff Rogers taught and mentored students at who went on to pursue successful careers in athletics, business, education, higher education, law, medicine, and ministry, among others. As Assistant and Associate Academic Dean, he supervised the academic advising system for 2,500 undergraduate students; administered the academic policies and procedures of the university; served on the President's Cabinet and as the academic affairs liaison with the athletic department while supervising the Assistant Academic Dean, the Assistant Dean for Internships, the Director of Academic Support, the Director of Disability Services, and the Registrar.
Gardner-Webb University
As Dean of the Gayle Bolt Price School of Graduate Studies, Jeff Rogers administered academic policies and procedures, adjunct faculty contracts, off-site facility agreements, and new program development for graduate programs in Business, Counseling, Education, English, Nursing, Religion, Physician Assistant Studies, and Sport Education. As Associate Provost, he led the university’s academic, student-service, enrollment, and digital-learning operations serving more than 2,000 undergraduate and graduate students on main campus, at 16 off-site locations, and online and served on the President's Senior Staff. He engaged in a comprehensive reorganization of five offices (Degree Completion Academics, Degree Completion Enrollment, Graduate Academics, Graduate Enrollment, and Educational Technology) to increase efficiency and effectiveness and facilitated the development and deployment of 11 new graduate and undergraduate academic programs in a six-year period.
Ministry Experience
Jeff Rogers has served as a minister of music, minister of music and youth, pastor, interim pastor and preacher, guest preacher, and teacher in Anglican, Baptist, Christian (Disciples), Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian congregations, conferences, workshops, and retreats in Georgia, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Ontario.
During his time of service as senior pastor of First Baptist Greenville, the congregation called its first fulltime minister for missions; entered into a covenant relationship with La Ecclesia Bautista del Camino in Guanajay, Cuba; initiated a community development corporation dedicated to revitalizing low-to-moderate-income neighborhoods; developed a comprehensive Mission-and-Ministry Master Plan and a new Master Site Plan; launched the most successful capital campaign in the congregation’s history with more than $10 million in commitments; constructed and dedicated a national-award-winning Activities and Youth Ministry Center which earned LEED® certification at the Silver level from the U.S. Green Building Council; baptized the first African-American members since Reconstruction, and increased membership and engagement of young families while maintaining the loyalty and enthusiasm of older adults for the vision and mission of the congregation.