Rev. James A. Washington, Jr.
Installed May 2023Pastor James was elected Senior Pastor of St. Peter in May 2023, after the passing of his father, Rev. James A. Washington, Sr., who had pastored St. Peter for over 53 years. Through his parents' marriage — James, Sr. and Veola Washington — he's the oldest of three children, with roots in the Shady Oak community running through both sides of his family. Pastor James grew up at St. Peter and was converted here at age nine.
He came up through Jackson Public Schools — G.N. Smith Elementary, Brinkley Middle, and Callaway High — before attending Hinds Community College and Tougaloo College. In college, he grew active in youth ministry, volunteering with Young Life and Camp Pioneer Ministries and mentoring teenagers from high schools across Jackson. That season also led him to co-found the Christian rap ministry "Show and Tell."
He felt the call to ministry in 1992 during a week of youth revival in Macon, Georgia, and was licensed soon after. He went on to serve as Youth Pastor and then Assistant Pastor at Pleasant Gift Baptist Church, all while working as Business Manager for St. Peter Christian Academy and Daycare — where he met his wife, Monica.
For the 26 years that followed, he pastored Brown Hill Baptist Church in Florence, Mississippi, earning a Master's degree in Theology from Liberty University along the way. Since May 2023, he's been privileged to return home and pastor the church — and the generations of its people — that raised him. He and Monica have three children: Chelsee, Lindsee, and James Autrey.
He cherishes the chance to serve three generations of people he has known all his life.
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110+ years of pastors, deacons, and members who built this church one season at a time.