In August 2022, Dr. Maurice Watson was called as the Senior Pastor of The Second Baptist Church in his native Little Rock, AR, where he was called to preach at the age of 16.  He joins The Second Baptist Church after serving for 7 profound years as the Senior Servant of the historic Metropolitan Baptist Church in Largo, MD.

 

St. Mark Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas was Dr. Watson's first pastorate where he served for 7 years. In November 1988, at the age of 28, he accepted the call to pastor the Salem Baptist Church in Omaha, Nebraska, where he served for 15½ years. Salem’s membership grew from 1,200 to more than 3,500 and the ministry was able to move into a new 42,000 square foot, multi-million-dollar facility by January 2000.

 

In April 2004, sensing a new call of God on his life, Dr. Watson accepted the senior pastorate of Beulahland Bible Church in Macon, Georgia. God opened the windows of Heaven and began to pour out blessings upon this ministry. Using Pastor Watson as a vessel, God touched the hearts of many and Beulahland experienced tremendous growth; thousands of souls were added to the ministry. 

 

In early 2004, Dr. Watson’s vision of “Faith on the Fast Track” led Beulahland through the construction of a second worship facility on the Macon campus grounds.  This new 40,000 square foot edifice was completed in October 2009 and the membership now enjoys a state-of-the-art 3,000-seat sanctuary and innovative administrative complex. Dr. Watson’s leadership took Beulahland to a second worship location in Warner Robins, Georgia in February 2005. After 5 ½ months of worship, the church was able to close on 13 acres of land to build a new worship facility for the Warner Robins area.

 

Dr. Watson received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education from Philander Smith College in Little Rock. He earned a Master of Arts Degree in Theology at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, and a Doctor of Ministry Degree from Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama.

 

Dr. Watson is a prolific pastor with a dynamic itinerant preaching ministry that extends across the continent and globe. A sought-after preacher and expositor, in 2002, he served as the morning worship preacher at the Annual Hampton Ministers’ Association Conference, and later served as the conference preacher in 2005 and 2015.  He is a former Chaplain with the Bibbs County Sheriff Department and the Georgia State Patrol. In 2010, Dr. Watson was inducted into the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Board of Preachers of Morehouse College.

 

Motivated by his love for people, his love for preaching, and his belief that no one is beyond God’s reach, Dr. Watson said, “I was born – put on this Earth, in this Universe – to be a preacher, teacher, and pastor of people. Seeing people helped and seeing lives transformed through what I might have to say, or what God might have to say through me, motivates me. It is my purpose for being alive.”  

 

Dr. Watson is married to Janice.  They have two beautiful daughters, one son-in law, and two grandsons.