Pastor Walter Dukes
Pastor Walter Dukes is a native of Waynesboro, Georgia and is married to Mary Terrell Dukes. They have three adult sons, two daughters in love, and five grandchildren.
He was called into the preaching ministry in November of 1998. He began serving at Bryant Grove Baptist Church as Associate Pastor in 2001 under the leadership of Pastor Edward Blueford Sr. Prior to this calling, he served as chairman of deacon board at Bryant Grove for eleven years.
In 2002, he accepted God’s assignment to pastor Oak Grove and First McCanaan Baptist Churches in Girard and Sardis Georgia, respectively. He served for eight years until he was repositioned to Snellville and the Atlanta area for a new assignment.
While in Snellville, the Lord connected him with Dr. Michael D. Woods where he served as Associate Pastor of O’Kelly Baptist Church in Loganville, Georgia for almost two years.
In July of 2015, four months after retirement as a senior officer of Georgia Power Company, he was divinely connected with the Late Pastor Steve Owens of Bethel Family Church. This was the beginning of a wonderful relationship that God had ordained for Pastor Steve, Pastor Dukes, and Bethel Family Christian Church. In February of 2016, Pastor Dukes accepted the call for a temporary assignment to fill in as Bethel’s Senior Pastor while Pastor Steve recovered from an illness. Pastor Dukes served as Senior Pastor under the Founding Pastor, Steve Owens, until his death in April of 2017. Upon his death, Pastor Dukes was called to serve in a permanent role as the Senior Pastor of Bethel Family Church.
Pastor Dukes believes Leadership Development and Discipleship are keys to meeting God’s plan for the Church. He has led Bethel Family Christian Church to focus on four goals: ENGAGE, EVANGELIZE, DISCIPLE and SERVE.
During his secular career, he served on numerous boards throughout the State of Georgia. Some of them included the Atlanta Medical Center, Medical College of Georgia, Central Atlanta Progress, First Tee of Atlanta, Atlanta Police Foundation, UNCF Corporate Campaign Chair and Atlanta Botanical Gardens. He is a past member of the 100 Black Men of America and a life-time member of the NAACP.
Pastor Walter Dukes
Pastor Dukes is graduate of Boggs Academy in Keysville Ga. He attended Morehouse College and Georgia Tech, receiving a BS in Electrical Engineering. He later attended Harvard University in a management development program. He graduated from Luther Rice Seminary with a Masters in Christian Education and a Master of Divinity. He also has a diploma from the MWE School of Ministry.