Briarwood Pastoral Profile Document

Learn a little about Briarwood Presbyterian Church and the role our next senior pastor will be tasked with by viewing the document linked below.

Briarwood Pastoral Profile PDF

The Briarwood Pulpit Committee

For God’s glory and through God’s leading, we are committed to search for, identify, and recommend the next Senior Pastor to lead Briarwood in equipping Christians to worship God and reach Birmingham to reach the world for Christ.

Welcome!

Thank you for visiting the Pulpit Committee webpage! The Pulpit Committee will update this page with new information as the search process progresses. Our desire is to communicate well. As our mission statement says, we are committed to search for, identify and recommend the next Senior Pastor. In order to fulfill our mission, we need your help. We need you to pray! Therefore, we will be providing prayer requests on this site and in other communications. The Lord already knows who our next Senior Pastor is and we are excited to discover who He has chosen!

We want to hear from you!

To make this easier an email address has been established for you to communicate with us. If you have a question, a suggestion or if you want to provide us a name to consider please let us know. The best way to do this is by emailing us at: pulpitcommittee@briarwood.org.

Background:

On May 18, 2023, our Senior Pastor Dr. Harry Reeder was unexpectedly called home by the Lord through a car accident. Dr. Reeder served Briarwood Presbyterian Church for 24 years as our second Senior Pastor. Prior to Dr. Reeder, Dr. Frank Barker, Jr served as Briarwood’s founding Pastor for 40 years.

In June 2023 the Briarwood Session appointed a committee to investigate the idea of calling an Interim Senior Pastor to Briarwood for a season. At the July 2023 Session Meeting, this committee made their recommendation to call an Intentional Interim Senior Pastor to lead us during this transition period. The Session agreed and formed a committee to search for an Intentional Interim Senior Pastor. In November 2023 the Briarwood Session called Dr. Dan Doriani to serve as the Intentional Interim Senior Pastor beginning December 1, 2023.

In July 2024 the Briarwood Session established a process to create a Pulpit Committee to select and recommend a new Senior Pastor for Briarwood. The Congregation provided several hundred nominations for the Pulpit Committee over a two-week period. On August 25, 2024, a Congregational Meeting was held and the Pulpit Committee was elected. The Pulpit Committee consists of 12 members and 2 alternates.

Stephanie Adcock
Billy Ball
Caroline Carlisle
Jim Carlson
Larkin Delk
Jeff Flannery, Jr
Meredith Hamblen
John Livingston
Nathan Sasse
Sharon Slay
Ethan Tidmore
Bryan Word

Alternates:

Glenn Draper
Kellie Stewart

Dr. Doriani is continuing to serve as our Intentional Interim Senior Pastor during the Senior Pastor search process and will be assisting the Pulpit Committee.

The Pulpit Committee selected Billy Ball to serve as Chairman and Bryan Word to serve as Vice Chairman.

Frequently Asked Questions

Prayer Requests & Updates

March 9, 2025

The Pulpit Search Committee has been steadily working since our update in late December. We are very thankful for your continued prayer support and your encouraging words! In our last report we announced the completion of our pastoral profile statement based on your feedback. You can find an electronic copy of this profile statement in the Pastoral Search booklet on the Briarwood website. We have been using this booklet as one way to inform possible candidates about Briarwood. If you would like to see a hard copy of this booklet you can find some on the information racks around the building.

In our last update, I shared that we were moving into Phase 2 of our process and asked you to pray as we worked through an initial list of names to determine a smaller group to focus on. This involved reviewing a lot of material and listening to numerous sermons and other talks. We have completed this effort and have started to do interviews with some potential candidates.

It is a tremendous blessing and honor to work with everyone on your Pulpit Search Committee. They all have a high level of commitment and a deep love for Briarwood. The Search Committee is now meeting twice a week for several hours as we learn more about and talk with potential candidates.

Please pray for each member of the Pulpit Search Committee. This is not easy work and the process does not go quickly. The time commitment is significant and they each understand and feel the importance of the task.

I also ask that you pray for the potential candidates we are talking with. Each person’s specific situation is different and their gifts and talents are unique, as God intended. In some cases it involves possibly relocating families and leaving close friendships which have been developed over years of ministry. These are not trivial considerations.

As we look forward to the Spring our next goal is to complete our interviews and move on to more detailed conversations. I cannot provide you with a specific timeline. However, what I can do is encourage you, and myself, to rest in the knowledge that God is sovereign over His Church, over Briarwood and over this process.

As we have been saying, God knows who He has called to be the next Senior Pastor of Briarwood. Please pray that God will continue to guide us as we seek to discover who He has called.

Thank you!

Billy Ball
Chairman, Briarwood Pulpit Search Committee

Prayer Requests:

Psalm 32 says our Heavenly Father will guide and direct our path and watch over us with His steadfast love. Continue praying for the Pulpit Search Committee as they rely on direction and guidance from Him.

December 15
Praise the Lord for strong congregational participation in the recent survey and in the Discovery Weekend event, which has provided the Pulpit Search Committee with very helpful input. Pray for the Pulpit Search Committee as they consider the congregational input. May God guide the process and give them wisdom.

December 8
Praise the Lord for productive meetings and unity among the Pulpit Search Committee. Continue praying for the man who will be our next Senior Pastor.

December 1
Pray for discernment and wisdom as the Pulpit Search Committee works through the feedback from our congregation to build a profile for our next Senior Pastor.

Psalm 43:3–4
Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!
Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.

Psalm 84:10–11
For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

Meet the Pulpit Committee Members

Stephanie Adcock

Spouse: Jon Adcock
Member of Briarwood since 2000
Sunday School Community: Covenant Keepers

Billy Ball
Chairman of the Pulpit Committee

Spouse: Cindy Ball
Adult children: William (Gina), Jordan, Andrew (Sarah), and Brandon
Member of Briarwood since 2002
Occupation: Utility Industry consultant and Retired Southern Company Executive Vice President
Sunday School Community: Covenant Keepers
Briarwood Elder

Caroline Carlisle

Briarwood Member since 2005
Occupation: Auditor
Sunday School Community: Graduates & Career

Jim Carlson

Member of Briarwood since 1979
Occupation: Retired attorney
Sunday School Community: Discovery
Briarwood Elder

Larkin Delk

Spouse: Hannah Delk
Member of Briarwood since 2018
Occupation: Partner with Harrison Robinson Construction
Sunday School Community: The Oaks
Briarwood Deacon

Jeff Flannery, Jr.

Spouse: Ellen Flannery
Children: Caroline, Harris, Hannah, Kate, Matthew, and Helen
Member of Briarwood since 1991
Occupation: Pediatric Dentist
Sunday School Community: Growing in Grace
Briarwood Elder

Meredith Hamblen

Spouse: Clay Hamblen
Children: Julia, Caroline, and Mary Clayton
Member of Briarwood since 1990
Occupation: Homemaker
Sunday School Community: Sojourners

John Livingston

Spouse: Connie Livingston
Children: Mary Lee and Millie
Briarwood Member since 1967
Occupation: Retired; formerly in-house counsel for Liberty National Life Insurance Company (now Globe Life) for 40 years.
Sunday School Community: REAL Matters
Briarwood Deacon

Nathan Sasse

Spouse: Julie Sasse
Children: Joshua and Samantha
Briarwood Member since 2012
Occupation: Commercial Real Estate Banker
Sunday School Community: Encounter
Briarwood Elder

Sharon Slay

Children: Parker and Patrick
Member of Briarwood since 2007
Occupation: Homemaker
Sunday School Community: Growing Together

Ethan Tidmore

Spouse: Emily Tidmore
Children: Christian and Caroline
Briarwood Member since 2018
Occupation: Attorney
Sunday School Community: Sojourners
Briarwood Deacon

Bryan Word
Vice Chairman of the Pulpit Committee

Spouse: Holly Word
Children: Davis, Kaitlyn, and Harrison
Member of Briarwood since 2004
Occupation: Owner, Blackjack Horticulture
Sunday School Community: Sojourners
Briarwood Elder

Glenn Draper

Spouse: Ashley Draper
Briarwood Member since 2015
Occupation: Financial Advisor
Sunday School Community: Discovery
Briarwood Elder

Kellie Stewart

Spouse: Scott Stewart
Children: Conner, Ann Allen, SJ, and Evie
Briarwood Member since 1988
Occupation: Homemaker
Sunday School Community: Sojourners