ÐÔÊÓ½çAPP

In a historic vote, the ÐÔÊÓ½çAPP Board of Overseers has unanimously approved the appointment of Pastor John K. Jenkins, Sr. as President of ÐÔÊÓ½çAPP. Pastor Jenkins, who is the Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Glenarden, is the first African American to lead our 170-year-old movement.

He succeeds Scott Ridout, who resigned as President, effective September 1, 2022. As Scott has said, through a clearer “understanding and expectation of the president’s role, it has become very apparent to me that while many of my skills would be essential to this role, some of the expectations do not land in my areas of strength. I want ÐÔÊÓ½çAPP to have the best possible leadership for the future of the movement.”

During his eight years in leadership, Scott served admirably and brought many gifts to the organization. He has been a great ambassador for ÐÔÊÓ½çAPP and has successfully promoted the overall vision. Moreover, during Scott’s leadership, we planted a significant number of churches in our network thereby expanding ÐÔÊÓ½çAPP’s footprint in the United States and internationally.

ÐÔÊÓ½çAPP is a spiritually dynamic, missionally driven, relationally devoted, and culturally diverse movement of leaders who together start and strengthen churches worldwide. We believe that ministry is best accomplished when services, ministries and programs are implemented as close to the local level as possible through our regions.

Over the last year, the Board of Overseers has clarified the role of the President to ALIGN VISION, INSPIRE EVERYONE and MULTIPLY RESOURCES. We all believe that Pastor Jenkins is the right leader to unite us together to start and strengthen more churches and to send more workers out to advance the gospel.

The ÐÔÊÓ½çAPP bylaws allow for an appointment of a new President when a vacancy occurs between biennial meetings. In the interim period until our next biennial meeting in 2024, the Board of Overseers unanimously voted to appoint Pastor Jenkins as the next ÐÔÊÓ½çAPP President. Pastor Jenkins will remain the Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Glenarden International in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

Additionally, the ÐÔÊÓ½çAPP Board has approved a chief operating officer to oversee the day-to-day operations of the national office. ÐÔÊÓ½çAPP Northeast Regional President Tim Ponzani is currently serving in this role in an interim capacity.

 is a 25-year member of ÐÔÊÓ½çAPP and has served in various leadership positions for our movement. Previously, he served as the Vice President of National Ministries. Recently, he joined the Board of Overseers and its Executive Committee.

In ÐÔÊÓ½çAPP, God has united us, providing us with the right people in leadership at the right time. We are excited about the future, and we are BETTER TOGETHER!