2012 Faith Forum Panelist: George Mason

Texas Public Faith Forum at Perkins School of Theology: Sept. 27, 2012

Forum Panelist:

George Mason has been senior pastor at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas since August 1989. A native of New York City, he came to Wilshire from Hillcrest Baptist Church in Mobile, Alabama.

He is a nationally recognized leader among Baptists, serving the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Baptist General Convention of Texas, Texas Baptists Committed, Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University, Duke University Divinity School, and Children's Medical Center of Dallas.

Mason has given keynote addresses at meetings of the CBF and BGCT, as well as the Fund for Theological Education. He has been a featured preacher on the nationally syndicated radio broadcast Day 1. He is the author of the book, Preparing the Pastors We Need: Reclaiming the Congregation’s Role in Training Clergy (Alban Press, 2012).

At Wilshire he has birthed and directs the unique pastoral residency program that currently enjoys funding from the Lilly Endowment. One of his passions is encouraging those whom God has called into vocational ministry.

George earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1978 from the University of Miami (Florida), where he was a quarterback on the football team. He also holds both the Master of Divinity (1982) and Doctor of Philosophy (1987) degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. His doctoral field of study was systematic theology, with a minor in philosophy of religion. His dissertation was "God's Freedom as Faithfulness: A Critique of Juergen Moltmann's Social Trinitarianism."

A native of New York City, George has been married to his wife, Kim, since 1979. They have three adult children and two young grandchildren.