Celebration Community Church <\/a><\/strong>in Fort Worth has elected the Rev. Jordan Conley as its new senior pastor.<\/p>\nCelebration members were invited to meet Conley and his husband, Patrick Allison, at a Fall Festival Meet-and-Greet on Saturday, Oct. 18, and at a pre-church Q&A session Sunday, Oct. 19. Conley led the morning worship services on Sunday, after which church members gathered for a congregational meeting and voted to name Conley as their new senior pastor.<\/p>\n
\u201cCelebration is very excited to welcome Jordan and Patrick to lead our church,\u201d search committee member Ruby Heard said in an email to Dallas Voice today (Monday, Oct. 20).<\/p>\n
The Rev. Jorene Taylor Swift, who chosen as senior pastor following the retirement of church\u2019s longtime senior pastor the Rev. Carol West, resigned in September 2024. The Rev. David Grebel has served as interim pastor since Swift\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n
In an email message to the congregation that was shared with Dallas Voice, Conley said:<\/p>\n
\u201cSeveral months ago, we began learning more about the ministry of Celebration Community Church. Through worshipping with you online, visiting your sacred space in person and sharing in rich conversations with your Search Committee, Pastor David and your CCC staff, it became clear that the Holy Spirit is at work among you in incredible ways.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe joy you share with one another as a church family is palpable \u2014 you can see it on social media; you can hear it during worship, and you can certainly feel it through your extraordinary hospitality. You are always reaching out, extending the compassion of Christ through your vibrant, authentic expression of faith in Tarrant County.<\/p>\n
\u201cCelebration, you are a beautiful expression of God\u2019s love! From the first time we stepped into your sanctuary, it felt like home because you make it feel like home. \u2026 We were not approaching this as a \u2018job.\u2019 We believe God is calling us to join you at Celebration, and we are open to God\u2019s call.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/The-Rev.-Jordan-Conley-right-and-his-husband-Patrick-Allison.jpg\")
The Rev. Jordan Conley, right, and his husband, Patrick Allison<\/p>\n
Conley said he \u201cfirst heard the call to ministry\u201d at the age of 8 when he attended Freewill Baptist Church in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Kentucky. \u201cAs I grew, my calling to the ministry deepened,\u201d he said, and he moved to Louisville to attend Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring those years as a closeted college student, I became what Rachel Held Evans called \u201ca refugee of the church\u2019s own making,\u201d Conley said. \u201cI loved the church. I loved telling the story of Jesus. But I hadn\u2019t yet learned to love and embrace my whole self as God\u2019s beloved.\u201d<\/p>\n
But, he added, then he found Crescent Hill Baptist Church, and in it \u201ca church home that, for the very first time, gave me permission to be who God created me to be and come out of the closet, assuring me that God would take me by the hand and walk with me every step of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
He has since \u201cserved Crescent Hill\u201d as a member, a janitor, a fill-in preacher, interim youth minister, children\u2019s minister and co-pastor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know first-hand what it is like to experience a faith community that truly sees, celebrates and affirms all of God\u2019s children,\u201d Conley said. \u201cHearing the stories of how others have found that same belonging at Celebration has only deepened my openness to a call to serve your congregation. Again and again in this season of discernment, the Holy Spirit has confirmed with undeniable clarity that God is calling us to Celebration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conley and Allison, both Kentucky natives, have been married since 2016, and they have a 13-year-old shorkie named Kenzie. They are \u201chuge University of Kentucky sports fans, especially during basketball season,\u201d Conley said. \u201cWe love spending times outdoors and preparing delicious meals for friends. \u2026 We look forward to exploring all that Texas has to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 Tammye Nash<\/p>\n
The Rev. Jordan Conley preaching in September on the five-year anniversary of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg\u2019s death:<\/p>\n
![\"YouTube](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760980694_284_hqdefault.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
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\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Rev. Jordan Conley After a year-long search, Celebration Community Church in Fort Worth has elected the Rev.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":319074,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,160143,160144,7371,7372,160145,357,5603,160146,160147,160148,358,160149,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-319073","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-celebration-community-church","10":"tag-crescent-hill-baptist-church","11":"tag-fort-worth","12":"tag-fortworth","13":"tag-freewill-baptist-church","14":"tag-kentucky","15":"tag-lgbtq","16":"tag-patrick-allison","17":"tag-ruby-harse","18":"tag-southern-baptist-theological-seminary","19":"tag-texas","20":"tag-the-rev-jordan-conley","21":"tag-tx","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-united-states-of-america","24":"tag-unitedstates","25":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","26":"tag-us","27":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115407639241497475","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/The-rev.-Jordan-Conley.jpg\")
The Rev. Jordan Conley<\/p>\n