Three Arkansas Baptist associations are welcoming new leadership this year as Jonathan Curtis, Paul Reams, and John Brown step into roles as associational missionaries, bringing decades of ministry experience in pastoral leadership and missions.
Arkansas Baptist Evangelism + Church Health Assistant Team Leader Bob Johnson said the new leaders are stepping into associations that are positioned well for continued ministry.
“All three of these guys walk into healthier associations,” Johnson said, noting that previous associational leaders helped move their respective ministries forward. “These are really solid guys with strong track records.”
Associational missionaries serve as connectors between churches within a geographic area, working closely with pastors while also helping congregations strengthen ministry and mission efforts.
“One of the main things they do is build relationships with pastors,” Johnson said. “But it can’t only be with pastors.” They also have to have relationships with the churches themselves, he said, helping with church health, training and ministry opportunities. That whole geographic area becomes their mission field.
Jonathan Curtis — Pulaski Baptist Association
Curtis was called as associational missionary for the Pulaski Baptist Association following 18 years as pastor of First Baptist Church in Little Rock.
Curtis and First Baptist had long partnered with the association in ministry and missions, including participation in the association’s Dominican Republic church-planting efforts.
“Our church has helped build several churches there, and we’ve built homes for some of the pastors we support,” Curtis said. “We usually send a couple of teams each year.”
During his time at First Baptist, Curtis also partnered with the association and Arkansas Baptists to plant Connect Church in Little Rock.
Curtis said he was not actively seeking a new role when the opportunity emerged after the previous associational missionary stepped down.
“I wasn’t looking for it,” he said. “But once it presented itself, I started praying about it and got excited about the opportunity.”
His final Sunday as pastor at First Baptist was March 8.
Curtis said he hopes to focus on further strengthening relationships among pastors and churches.
“We’ve been talking about three simple words: win together, walk together and work together,” he said. “The walking together part is especially important. Being a pastor can be a lonely place.”
A native of the association, Curtis grew up at First Southern Baptist Church in Bryant, now Graceway Baptist Church. After attending seminary, he returned to serve in the area where he was raised.
“It’s really special to be serving the churches I grew up around,” he said.
Curtis earned a Master of Divinity and Master of Christian Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and later completed a Ph.D. He and his wife, Lori, have been married 31 years and have one daughter, Isabella.
Paul Reams — ArTex Baptist Association
Reams began serving as missions strategist for the ArTex Baptist Association after more than 30 years in ministry, bringing experience across a wide range of roles including youth, outreach, education and pastoral leadership.
A graduate of Williams Baptist College, where he was a member of the Williams Singers, Reams has been actively engaged in missions both in the United States and internationally. His global ministry experience includes work in Brazil, Chile, Liberia and the Philippines, with an upcoming trip planned to Malawi. He has also helped lead missions efforts along the Texas-Mexico border in Laredo, in addition to organizing outreach initiatives such as block parties and food and clothing ministries. He currently serves on the board of Mission Texarkana.
Throughout his ministry, Reams has invested in mentoring others and developing leaders, a focus he said naturally led him to associational work.
“Associational ministry gives me the opportunity to minister not only to pastors, but also to entire church families,” Reams said. “I’ve always had a heart for helping others in ministry and discipleship.”
Reams said one of his primary goals is to help churches grow stronger and healthier.
“No matter how healthy a church is, there is always room to grow,” he said. “I want to encourage and resource our churches and their ministers as they pursue what God is leading them to do. We are one body, and we are better together.”
In his first months, Reams plans to focus on listening and building relationships across the association.
“I want to understand each church’s strengths, challenges and vision for their mission field,” he said. “I’m praying for wisdom and discernment as I learn how best to serve and support them.”
He added that earning trust and walking alongside pastors and congregations will be key priorities.
“I want them to know I care for them, love them and am committed to helping them accomplish what God has called them to do,” he said.
Reams and his wife, Kathryn, will celebrate 34 years of marriage in June. They have five children — Shelby, Lauren, Josh, Carson, and Riley.
John Brown — Trinity Baptist Association
Brown began serving as associational missionary strategist for Trinity Baptist Association in January, bringing with him more than three decades of ministry experience.
Originally from Star City, Arkansas, Brown attended Arkansas State University before serving as a Journeyman missionary with the International Mission Board (IMB) in Zambia. During orientation for the program, he met his future wife, Claudia, who was assigned to serve in Brazil.
After completing their assignments, the couple married and attended Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, where he completed his Master of Divinity and she completed her Master of Religious Study. Brown later completed additional seminary study in New Orleans, before the couple was appointed as career missionaries.
The Browns spent more than 30 years serving overseas, including ministry in Mozambique during a time of war and instability before eventually relocating to Malawi, where they served for more than two decades.
In 2015, the couple returned to the United States after the International Mission Board asked some missionaries to consider retirement due to financial challenges.
After returning to the United States, Brown served in several ministry roles including supply preaching, community outreach and pastoral leadership. Most recently, he pastored Oak Grove Baptist Church, a rural congregation near Steele, Missouri, for seven years.
Now serving Trinity Baptist Association, Brown said his primary goal is to encourage pastors, many of whom serve bivocationally.
“I can relate to a lot of the guys who are part-time pastors because that’s what I was doing,” he said. “I want to spend time with them and be an encourager.”
Brown has begun visiting churches across the association and meeting pastors while helping lead ministry initiatives. One upcoming outreach on May 2 will include medical and dental services and evangelism efforts in the town of Weiner.
“That’s what I love to do,” Brown said. “I love witnessing to people and seeing lives changed.”
Brown and his wife have three children and seven grandchildren.
A shared mission
Johnson said the work of associational missionaries remains an important part of helping churches collaborate in ministry and mission.
“Associations help churches work together in ways they couldn’t do alone,” he said. Whether that’s strengthening pastors, helping churches stay healthy or leading mission opportunities, that’s where associational missionaries play a key role.
As new leaders step into these roles across Arkansas, Johnson said the goal remains the same: helping churches thrive and advance the gospel in their communities.