About Southside’s Servant Leadership
In the 1980’s, Southside embraced the Biblical concept of plurality of leadership. James Bell, Cloyd Young, Dickey Richard and Jaden Allen currently serve our church body as our Elders. The pulpit ministry is also shared with other men in the congregation. The elders, the deacons, those who serve in music ministry, and other servant leaders seek to work together in a spirit that honors our LORD. We continually wait upon the LORD for the raising up of future, additional Elders.
Elders
James Bell has served as the lead pastor/elder at Southside since May of 1975. He and his wife, Cindy, have been married since May 27, 1967. Cindy serves in various ministries in the church and is the church organist.
James was saved by the grace of God, baptized, and later received a calling/desire (I Timothy 3:1) from God to become a pastor, all while attending Jewell Baptist Church in Jewell, Georgia.
He attended Truett-McConnell College in Cleveland, Georgia where he received an associate’s degree. While attending Truett-McConnell he served as pastor of Fairmount Baptist Church outside of Sparta, Georgia. He then attended Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee and graduated with an B.A. in History with a minor in Psychology. After marrying Cindy he attended Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas. In 1969 the Bells moved to Hartsville, Tennessee where James served as the pastor of First Baptist Church for six years before being called to Southside in 1975.
Cloyd Young has served as an elder at Southside since July of 2016. He and his wife, Sally, have been married since July 25, 1964.
Cloyd was saved by the grace of God as a teenager through the television ministry of Cathedral of Tomorrow and was later baptized in Wadsworth Baptist Temple in Canton, Ohio and surrendered his life to gospel ministry.
He attended Tennessee Temple College & Bible School and then Manahath School of Theology where he graduated with a B.A. in Bible and a minor in Biblical Languages and Psychology.
He has served the Lord in ministry at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Claysburg, Pennsylvania as pastor from 1968-1970 and then as Assistant Pastor and School Principal from 1975-1978. He served as principal of Grace Baptist Academy from 1968-1969. He also worked for Accelerated Christian Education as a Ministry Trainer and Educational Consultant from 1969-2003. He served as interim pastor of First Baptist Church of Pinellas Park, Florida in 2003. He then served as principal of Southside’s school from March of 2007 through August of 2008 and has served as an elder since 2016.
Dickey Richard has served as an elder at Southside since July of 2016. He and his wife, Marsha, have been married since February 13, 2016.
Dickey was saved by the grace of God at the age of 5 while attending a Presbyterian church. He was later baptized as an adult at Temple Baptist Church in Ruston, Louisiana.
He graduated from Centenary College of Louisiana with a B.S. in Education and went on to earn a Masters in Physical Education from Louisiana Tech University.
He has served the Lord in various church bodies for 57 years as a Deacon and Sunday School Teacher. He was ordained by Summer Grove Baptist Church of Shreveport, Louisiana. He has served the church body at Southside as an elder since 2016.
Jaden Allen has served as an elder at Southside since May of 2020. He and his wife, Rhiannon, have been married since October 3, 2015.
Jaden was saved by the grace of God as a child through the faithful witness of his parents and was baptized in Abundant Grace Church in Becker, Minnesota. While attending Southside Baptist as a senior in high school he received a calling/desire from God to be a pastor.
He attended Pensacola Christian College where he graduated with a B.A. in Pastoral Ministry and a minor in English.
He served in various volunteer roles at Southside before becoming the Pastor’s Assistant in 2018. He was ordained as an elder by Southside in May of 2020.
