Brett Golson
Vice President for Spiritual Development and Church Relations
Professor of Religion
bgolson@wmcarey.edu
(601) 318-6431
Dr. Brett Golson serves as the Vice President for Spiritual Development and Church Relations. He holds a B.S. degree in history from the University of Southern Mississippi, a B.A. degree in biblical studies from William Carey, a Master of Divinity, Master of Theology, and a Ph.D. in preaching with a minor in theology from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Before employment at William Carey, he ministered as a full-time pastor for 18 years, taught as an adjunct professor in the philosophy and religion department at Mississippi State University, and served as the president of the Mississippi Baptist Pastor's Conference in 2010. Dr. Golson has led 35 mission trips overseas, in Central America, South America, the Far East, the Middle East, Asia, and Southern Europe along with hundreds of mission trips within the US.
Dr. Golson served as full-time pastor of 3 churches in the state of Mississippi from 1993-2012 prior to coming to Carey. Since coming to William Carey, Dr. Golson has served as co-vocational pastor and interim pastor and presently serves on staff as co-vocational associate pastor of Hardy Street Baptist Church.
Dr. Golson is married to Karen and together they have 4 married children and 8 grandchildren. Karen holds two master’s degrees in psychology and English where she teaches as an adjunct and serves full time as Director of Advancement. Brett and Karen do marriage and family conferences for churches and enjoy teaching and mentoring college students at WCU and Hardy Street Baptist Church.
Dr. Golson has served as chair of the Christian Ministries department in which he developed the Cross-Cultural Business Management major which is a business degree conferred by the school of business but includes all our mission courses. He also developed the Christian Ministries major and started an Arabic program that allows students to study Arabic in the country of Jordan. In 2012, Golson launched the Intercultural Studies major (missions) with an emphasis on double majoring with a professional degree. Additionally, Dr. Golson worked with the faculty of the Cooper School to develop the Master of Arts in Christian Theology, the first of its kind in this field for WCU and for any Baptist institution in the state of Mississippi. He holds the rank of “full professor” where he continues to teach in Biblical Hermeneutics and theology. Golson was promoted to Dean of the Cooper School and later to Vice President of Spiritual Development and Church Relations, a position he now holds. In addition to these responsibilities, he manages the Media and Marketing department providing oversight to the employees and working with the team to promote William Carey and expand our digital footprint.
Dr. Golson was named faculty member of the year in 2013 and again in 2018. He was chosen by a student as the H.E.A.D.W.A.E outstanding faculty honoree recognized by the Mississippi state legislature for 2014.
Away from his professional and ministry commitments, Dr. Golson enjoys hiking with his family, lifting weights, and spending time with four married children and eight grandchildren.