Pastor · Chaplain · Church Planter · Missionary · Teacher · Grief Counselor · Founder, Partnerships for Unreached People.
Dr. Joseph Durham’s life in ministry traces its roots to a singular moment of transformation — a Sunday evening in June 1970, when, as a teenager, he placed his trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. That same season of faith also brought a compelling sense of divine calling: a clear and unmistakable commission, received during his junior year of high school, to devote his life to serving the body of Christ through pastoral ministry.
Answering that call with both conviction and rigorous preparation, Dr. Durham pursued a path of theological formation that would anchor decades of fruitful service. He was ordained to Gospel Ministry in 1983 by Eastside Baptist Church of Riverdale, Georgia, the home church that first nurtured his faith. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Mercer University in Atlanta in 1984, followed by a Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 1990. In 2022, he completed his Doctor of Ministry degree at Luther Rice College and Seminary — a testament to his lifelong commitment to growth, scholarship, and pastoral excellence.
Over more than four decades, Dr. Durham has served in virtually every dimension of pastoral and missionary work — as an associate pastor, church planter, missionary, and senior pastor. His ministry has been marked not only by growth, but by faithfulness in the most demanding of assignments: he has also led two congregations through intentional seasons of church revitalization, bringing renewal and restored vision to communities in need of spiritual and institutional restoration.
In 2003, Dr. Durham founded Partnerships for Unreached People, a missions organization dedicated to extending the Gospel to communities and peoples who have yet to hear it. Now in its third decade of operation, the organization continues to mobilize resources, partnerships, and personnel toward the frontier of global mission. Dr. Durham presently serves in his twelfth year as Senior Pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Georgia, where he continues to shepherd his congregation with the same pastoral heart that has defined his ministry from its earliest days.
Dr. Durham’s calling has never been confined to the pulpit alone. As a Chaplain with the Clayton County Police Department, he stands alongside officers and their families in moments of crisis, loss, and uncertainty. Through his long involvement with the Forest Park Ministers Association, he has helped knit together the area’s faith leaders in shared purpose, strengthening the wider Body of Christ across denominational lines. As a mentor to the Jonesboro High School football team, he has poured into the lives of young men at a pivotal season of character formation.
Beyond Clayton County, Dr. Durham’s influence as a teacher of teachers and a pastor to pastors reaches around the world. Through Partnerships for Unreached People and a lifetime of missionary relationships, he has trained, mentored, and encouraged ministers and church planters across multiple continents. Whether counseling a grieving family, coaching a young pastor through his first church plant, or standing beside a first responder in the aftermath of tragedy, Dr. Durham brings the same steady, shepherding presence.
Dr. Durham is married to Diane, his best friend, steadfast prayer warrior, and beloved partner in life and ministry. Together, they are the proud parents of four children and grandparents of three.
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