Quintell Hill, pastor of Multiply Community Church in Monroe, N.C., and president of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, will be joining the International Mission Board (IMB) as African American church mobilization strategist starting April 1.

Hill shared the news with members of his church on Sunday, March 3, during their morning service. The IMB announced the transition via internal communication sent to staff Monday morning, March 4. 

“I’m excited and humbled just to be able to serve the Lord in this way,” Hill said. “It’s humbling to be used by God to have an impact on the world’s greatest problem — lostness. I’m just grateful for the opportunity to be able to do that in this context that God is calling me to serve Him in.”

In 2022, Hill made N.C. Baptist history by becoming the first African American to be elected president of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. Hill was re-elected to a second term in 2023. 

As Hill transitions into his new position with the IMB, N.C. Baptist First Vice President Jason Miller, pastor of Dutch Cove Missionary Baptist Church in Canton, N.C., will assume the role of state convention president. 

“I’m excited to welcome Quintell Hill to the IMB team as we seek to fulfill our mission statement to serve Southern Baptists in fulfilling the Great Commission,” said Paul Chitwood, president of the IMB. “Quintell loves the Lord, the local church and the nations. He will be a blessing to all Southern Baptists, but especially to our SBC African American churches as, together, we seek to address lostness as the world’s greatest problem.”

In his new role with the IMB’s church mobilization team, Hill will work with over 3,000 African American churches across the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) to help foster relationships and strengthen partnerships with IMB missionary teams. Hill’s position will focus on coaching church ministry leaders in missions mobilization, with the goal to serve African American churches and networks in pursuit of the broader missionary task.

In addition, Hill will help oversee the development of resources related to the SBC’s annual celebration of the George Liele Church Planting, Evangelism and Missions Day, which is facilitated every year through the IMB.

“We’re tremendously excited to have Quintell join the mobilization team,” said Chris Derry, director of church and campus engagement for the IMB’s mobilization office. “He is an encouraging spirit, a bridge builder, and walks with Christ-honoring character. We believe his rich experience as both pastor and current president of the N.C. Baptist Convention — plus his time served as a planting coach for SendNC — gives him a unique skillset to help us broadly engage our African American churches and serve them well as they fulfill the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations.”

Raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Hill has earned degrees from the University of Mobile in Alabama and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in preaching from Anderson University in South Carolina.

For his doctoral dissertation, Hill is examining how George Liele’s evangelistic preaching led to a missionary movement. According to Hill and unbeknownst to him at the time, the Lord used what he was learning about Liele’s life through his doctoral research and studies to plant initial seeds about serving in a role similar to the one he is taking with the IMB.

Liele was a freed slave whose ministry sparked an early church planting and missions movement in the southern United States and beyond. One of Liele’s early converts, Andrew Bryan, planted the First African Baptist Church of Savannah, Georgia, which is one of the oldest Black congregations in the nation. As Bryan was establishing his church in Savannah, Liele and his family began missions work in Jamaica. Many acknowledge Liele as the first overseas missionary from the United States in 1782. 

“The Lord has given me a hunger for learning more about this part of history and applying that knowledge in this new role,” Hill said. “In so many ways, I’m standing on the shoulders of those who have come before me.”

In 2019, Hill planted Multiply Community Church, which was established with support from the N.C. Baptist church planting team (now known as SendNC). He has served as the church’s lead pastor for the past five years.

In his new role with the IMB, Hill will continue to live in North Carolina with his wife and two daughters. Much of his time will be spent traveling to meet and engage with African American pastors, church leaders and ministry workers.

Todd Unzicker, executive director-treasurer for N.C. Baptists, praised Hill’s achievements as president and said he was excited to see how God will use him next. 

“Quintell has been and will continue to be a true blessing to N.C. Baptists,” Unzicker said. “His passion for the Great Commission and love for the local church is unmatched. In addition, Quintell has gone above and beyond in his service to our convention as its first African American president. 

“We are all eternally grateful for Quintell’s investment in N.C. Baptist churches. This new role with our great partners at the IMB will be a great fit for his gifts and talents. I look forward to seeing how God will use him to mobilize African American churches to be on mission together.”

EDITOR’S NOTE – Samuel Heard serves as editor and content coordinator for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.)