Council Members

Denny Burk is the President of the Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood. He joined the faculty of Boyce College in 2008, where he currently serves as Professor of Biblical Studies. He also serves as one of the preaching pastors at Kenwood Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. He has written extensively about the Bible’s teaching on sexuality and gender, including Male and Female He Created Them (Christian Focus, 2023), Transforming Homosexuality (P&R, 2015), and What Is the Meaning of Sex? (Crossway, 2013). He has also authored a commentary on the pastoral epistles (Crossway, 2017) and has written articles that have appeared in the Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Tyndale Bulletin, Bulletin for Biblical Research, and the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. He is married and has four children.

Abigail Dodds (MA, Bethlehem College & Seminary) is a wife and mother of five children. She is a member of Bethlehem Baptist Church in the Twin Cities where her husband, Tom, serves as an elder. In addition to tending their bustling home, she writes for desiringGod.org and occasionally blogs at her personal site, hopeandstay.com. Dodds is the author of (A)Typical Woman: Free, Whole, and Called in Christ (Crossway, 20190).

Jason Duesing (PhD) is Provost of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He holds a B.A. in Speech Communication from Texas A&M University, an M.Div. from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in Historical Theology and Baptist Studies from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

He is the author of Seven Summits in Church History (forthcoming, Rainer Publishing) and Adoniram Judson: A Bicentennial Appreciation of the Pioneer American Missionary and co-editor, with Malcolm Yarnell and Thomas White, of Upon this Rock, Restoring Integrity in Baptist Churches, and First Freedom: The Baptist Perspective on Religious Liberty.

Dr. Duesing is married to Kalee and they have four children: Gracyn, Ford, Lindsey, and George.

Ligon Duncan (PhD) is Chancellor and CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary. For 17 years, he was Senior Minister of the historic First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, Mississippi and was President of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals from 2004-2012. He is also a past Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America (2004-2005).

He is a graduate of Furman University, Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, (1986 M.Div.; 1987 M.A. Historical Theology). He studied Systematic Theology at the Free Church of Scotland College under Professor Donald Macleod (1988-1990) and earned the Ph.D. (Ecclesiastical History and Systematic Theology) at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland in 1995. He has written and edited several books including Give Praise to God and The Westminster Confession into the 21st Century (4 vols.).

Wayne Grudem (PhD) is Research Professor of Theology and Biblical Studies at Phoenix Seminary in Phoenix, Arizona. He received a B.A. from Harvard University, an M.Div. and a D.D. from Westminster Seminary, Philadelphia, and a Ph.D. (in New Testament) from the University of Cambridge, England. He has published twenty books and was also the General Editor for the 2.1 million-word ESV Study Bible (Evangelical Christian Publishers Association Book of the Year and World Magazine book of the year, 2009).

Sharon James studied history at Cambridge University, has an M. Div from Toronto Baptist Seminary, and a doctorate from the University of Wales. She works for The Christian Institute, UK, and is the author of several books, including How Christianity Changed the World (Christian Focus, 2021), and The Lies We Are Told: The Truth We Must Hold: Worldviews and Their Consequences (Christian Focus, 2022).  Sharon is married to Bill, who is Principal of London Seminary. They have two children and six grandchildren. Sharon’s website is: www.sharonjames.org.

Miguel Núñez serves as senior pastor of International Baptist Church and president of Wisdom and Integrity Ministries in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He is also a Council member of The Gospel Coalition and Coalicion por el Evangelio.

CLINT PRESSLEY serves as the Senior Pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC. Pastor Clint uses an expository preaching style and has a strong biblical study background.

He was a student-athlete playing football before receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree from Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is currently working on his final project toward the Doctor of Ministry from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Prior to his call to Hickory Grove, Clint served as the Senior Pastor at Dauphin Way Baptist Church in Mobile, Alabama from 2004–2010. Before serving in these two capacities, Clint served as Associate Pastor of Preaching at Hickory Grove and Senior Pastor at two churches in Mississippi.

Clint’s service, both at large and small churches, has prepared him for denominational service within the Southern Baptist Convention and other leadership posts. In 2013, he served as Vice President of the SBC Pastors Conference. In 2014–15, Clint served as the First Vice President of the SBC. He also has served on the Board of Trustees of The University of Mobile, the Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and is currently serving as Chairman of the Board of Trustees at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

He is married to Connie LaBelle Smith Pressley and they have two sons, Mack and Nate.

Jeff is Dean of the Sovereign Grace Pastors College and leads pastoral and theological training for Sovereign Grace Ministries. He is the editor of Bible Doctrine and contributed a chapter to Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World. He serves on the advisory group of the Entrust Foundation. In addition to his role with Sovereign Grace Ministries, Jeff serves as an elder at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville.

Jeff is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in New Testament Studies from The Catholic University of America. He is a summa cum laude graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois (M.Div., 1998), where he taught Greek as a teaching fellow in the New Testament department and worked as a teaching assistant in systematic theology for Wayne Grudem. Jeff’s pre-ministry experience combines a degree in Economics and English Literature with a decade in the corporate banking world.

Joe Rigney serves as President and Associate Professor of Theology and Literature at Bethlehem College & Seminary. He is the author of five books including: Live Like a Narnian: Christian Discipleship in Lewis’s Chronicles (Eyes & Pen, 2013), The Things of Earth: Treasuring God by Enjoying His Gifts (Crossway, 2015), Lewis on the Christian Life: Becoming Truly Human in the Presence of God (Crossway, 2018), Strangely Bright: Can You Love God and Enjoy this World? (Crossway, 2020), and More than a Battle: How to Experience Victory, Freedom, and Healing from Lust (B&H, 2021). Joe is also a pastor at Cities Church in St. Paul and serves as a teacher at DesiringGod.

Dr. Thoennes is Chair of Biblical and Theological Studies and Professor of Theology at the Talbot School of Theology and is a pastor at Grace Evangelical Free Church in La Mirada, California. He holds degrees in philosophy, systematic theology, and evangelism from Central Connecticut State University (B.A.), Wheaton College Graduate School (M.A., M.A.), and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Ph.D.). He is also the author of Life’s Biggest Questions: What the Bible Says about the Things That Matter Most.

Dr. White is President and Professor of Theology at Cedarville University. He holds an A.A. and a B.A. in English from Anderson University, and an M.Div. in Pastoral Ministry and Languages and a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

He has contributed chapters and articles to many books and publications, most notably co-authoringFranchising McChurch: Feeding Americas Obsession with Easy Christianity with John Mark Yeats, and co-editing Upon this Rock, Restoring Integrity in Baptist Churches, and First Freedom: The Baptist Perspective on Religious Liberty with Malcolm Yarnell and Jason Duesing.