know our staff

BCOC asked Chuck Poole to serve as Interim Pastor in October 2026. Chuck retired in 2022 from forty-five years of pastoral life, during which he served churches in Georgia, North Carolina, Washington DC, and Jackson, Mississippi. Chuck has served as a visiting preacher and teacher on the campuses of Mercer University, Furman University, The Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, The Baptist House of Studies at Duke University, The McAfee School of Theology, Campbell University, Mississippi College, Gardner-Webb University and the Wake Forest University School of Divinity. He was the founding teacher of the Wood Street Bible Class in Jackson, Mississippi, which he led for twenty-one years. The author of nine books, numerous published articles, one gospel song, and the lyrics to three hymns, Chuck has served as a “minister on the street” in Jackson, as an advocate for interfaith welcome and racial justice, and as an ally to our immigrant neighbors. Chuck and Marcia now live in Birmingham. Marcia and Chuck have a son, Joshua, a daughter, Maria, and ten grandchildren.

Daniel (Dan) Edward Lawhon was called to be the Organist-Choirmaster in 2008. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from Belmont University in Nashville, TN and a Master of Church Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the School of Church Music at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

Eric Clark was called as BCOC’s Minister of Community Engagement in 2022. Eric received his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Georgia State University and his Master of Divinity from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. Along the way, he spent two years studying philosophy and theology in Germany, the first year at the University of Tübingen, the second at the University of Munich. Eric began attending BCOC in 2017 after he moved to Birmingham to be closer to his future wife, Lyndsay, and to undertake a yearlong clinical pastoral residency at UAB Hospital. Lyndsay and Eric were married by BCOC pastor emerita Sarah Shelton in 2018. They have two children, Miriam and Amos. Eric was ordained by Baptist Church of the Covenant in February 2025.

Paxton Vaughn serves as the Associate Pastor of Christian Formation at BCOC. Paxton worked in several ministry settings before coming to BCOC, including serving with PASSPORT Camps, College Ministry, and with Greystone Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. She received her undergraduate degree from Western Kentucky University and her Master of Divinity from Duke Divinity School. Paxton was ordained to the Gospel Ministry by Highland Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky.

Sarah Jackson Shelton served as pastor of Baptist Church of the Covenant from 2002, when she was called, to 2019, when she retired. She is a graduate of The University of Alabama and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. She and her husband, Lloyd, have two children, David and Dan.