The First Baptist Church of Christ today elected its first woman pastor in the church’s almost 200-year history, calling Rev. Julie Whidden Long as Pastor of the church, which is located at the top of Poplar Street in downtown Macon.
Rev. Long has most recently been Interim Director of Staff and Congregational Life at the church, where she served for many years on staff, first as Minister of Children and Families (2005–2013) and then as Associate Pastor and Minister of Children and Families (2013–2018), before leaving to become Associate Director of Baptist Women in Ministry (2018-2019). In 2020, she began a coaching and consulting practice, Empowerment Coaching LLC, as a certified life coach and organizational leadership consultant to churches.
A graduate of Mercer University, Rev. Long holds a BA, summa cum laude, from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the M.Div. from McAfee School of Theology. She is the author of Portraits of Courage: Stories of Baptist Heroes, with additional published sermons and chapters in several anthologies.
Rev. Long has served two terms on the Mercer University Board of Trustees and twice been elected to the Coordinating Council of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Georgia, serving as Moderator in 2017-2018. She received the Young Baptist Leadership Award from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in 2015 and continues to serve in a variety of leadership and mentoring roles with CBF and Baptist Women in Ministry.
Rev. Long will begin her tenure as pastor on August 1, 2024.