Executive Minister - Dr. James M. Harrison

Rev. Dr. James Mitchell Harrison, former President of ABCOTS (2011-2013), was elected to serve the Region of the South as Regional Executive Minister on Thursday, April 16, 2015, following the recommendation of the Search Committee, and an affirmative vote of the Region’s Board of Directors, and body of delegates attending the 45th Annual Session held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Dr. Harrison, the fourth person to come to this position, succeeds the Rev. Dr. Walter L. Parrish, II, who led the region for 36 years, beginning January 1979. Dr. Harrison began his duties on August 1, 2015.
Dr. Harrison serves Main Street Baptist Church in Smithfield, Virginia, as Pastor, a post he has served since December 1996. He was ordained by the Ministers Council of Area II, Region of the South, in November 1983. Drs. Henry and Ella Pearson Mitchell served as Examiners. Dr. Harrison began his professional career at the Zion Union Baptist Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, serving as Administrative Assistant to the Pastor. The late Rev. Raymond Allen Hailes was the Pastor and became mentor to Dr. Harrison.
He has served five (5) other pastorates across Virginia. He has done adjunct teaching with Virginia’s Community College System for the past 17 years, and served as an institutional chaplain with the Chaplain’s Service of the Churches of Virginia. Additionally, he sits on several boards of Directors, including Community Housing Partners of Virginia, Inc.
Dr. Harrison holds degrees from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia (B.A.), 1983; the School of Theology at Virginia Union University, Richmond, Virginia (M.Div.), 1986; and United Theological Seminary at Dayton, Ohio (D.Min), 1997.