The Reverend Emmett Lafayette Dunn serves as Executive Secretary-Treasurer/CEO of the Lott Carey

Baptist Foreign Mission Convention. Appointed by the Board of Directors in July 2019, Rev. Dunn, the

first non-American elected to serve as CEO in Lott Carey’s 125 years history, assumed the role of chief

executive on November 1, 2019. Before his appointment, he served as Senior Pastor of the West Hyattsville Baptist Church, Maryland.

 

Born in Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa, Rev. Dunn immigrated to the United States to further his education in 1989 as a World Council of Churches scholar. While in Liberia, Rev. Dunn was a Providence Baptist Church member, ordained in 1987, and served on the pastoral staff until he departed for the USA.

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Rev. Dunn was recently elected president of the North American Baptist Fellowship, a Baptist World

Alliance regional arm. Representing a diverse community of twenty-two denominations and groups, the

NABF serves 55,000 churches in the USA and Canada. Rev. Dunn was the first non-westerner to be elected to serve as president.

 

For twenty-two years, Rev. Dunn served on the Executive Staff of the Baptist World Alliance. The Baptist World Alliance is a fellowship of 228 Baptist unions and conventions comprising a membership of more than forty-two million baptized believers and a community of more than 110 million Baptists worldwide. The BWA leads in evangelism, responds to people in need, defends human rights, and promotes theological reflection.

 

Rev. Dunn formerly served as an assistant minister and the Special Assistant to the late Rev. Dr. John O. Peterson, former Pastor of the Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, before being elected as the Director of the Youth Department of the Baptist World Alliance in 1994. His ministry with the BWA took him to places worldwide, where he provided skill leadership in youth leadership development, conflict resolution, mission and evangelism, church health and wellness, emerging leaders' initiatives, and conference management. For 25 years, Rev. Dunn has traveled to more than one hundred countries, encouraging, equipping, and empowering Indigenous and vulnerable communities.

 

In 2006, Rev. Dunn was appointed Director of the Baptist World Congress and Conferences. He planned, supervised, and coordinated all aspects of the BWA international gatherings in that capacity. Under his leadership, these events brought together more than 50,000 participants.

 

Rev. Dunn recently served as the Chairperson of the Board of Advisors of the Ricks Institute School in

Liberia and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also a member of several professional organizations, including, The Professional Conference Managers

Association (PCMA), The National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners (NCBMP), The Religious

Conference Management Association (RCMA), The International YMCA, The American Red Cross, and the NAACP, where he served on the International Affairs Committee. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the William R. Tolbert Foundation, a Member of the board of Managers of the District of Colombia Baptist Convention, a Member of the Board of Directors, General Board of Ministries, American Baptist Churches, USA; Member, Board of Directors, District of Columbia Baptist Foundation, Member, Board of Directors, Churches for Middle Eastern Peace, and Member, General Council, Baptist World Alliance.

 

His education includes a High School Diploma from St. Patrick's High School, Liberia, a Bachelor of

Theology Degree from the Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary in 1986, a Graduate Certificate of work accomplished from the Protestant Episcopal Seminary of Virginia (VTS) in 1989, and a Master of Divinity Degree from the Howard University School of Divinity in 1991.

 

Rev. Dunn has received numerous awards and distinctions, including an Honorary Doctorate Degree of

Divinity (DD) from the Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary in March 2014.

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He is married to the lovely Suan J. Dunn, and they have three beautiful children: LeAnn Amal, Emmett

Lafayette, Jr., and Annette Olivia. They reside in Fort Washington, Maryland.