ROCHESTER, Minn. — Trey Turner, pastor of Church at Wazeecha, which he and his wife Lea Ann planted 16 years ago, will become the next executive director of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention (MWBC)June 1, 2025.

Turner was elected at the April 25-26 MWBC executive board meeting at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Rochester, Minn. He was recommended by a 12-person search committee elected last September when longtime executive director Leo Endel announced his retirement, setting June 30, 2025, as his final day, when he will have completed 23 years of service. Endel and Turner will overlap for one month to facilitate a smooth transition.

“God has uniquely shaped Trey to lead M-W (Minnesota-Wisconsin) Baptists into the next generation,” Endel said of the man who will succeed him. “He has pastored a small church, a large church, and then came to Wisconsin and planted a church in Wisconsin Rapids.” 

Endel said that Turner has “excellent leadership and relational skills” and “the ability to hold people from diverse backgrounds together and then to lead them forward on mission together.” 

Turner’s 16 years in the convention give him “a head start as he already knows many of the leaders in our two states,” Endel said. 

“I could not be happier or have more confidence in the convention’s choice,” he said. “I can see the activity of God in Trey’s preparation and selection. I’m eager to see how God uses him.”

Of Turner’s wife, Endel said, “M-W women will love Lea Ann. She is gracious, kind, fun and extremely smart. She, too, is a powerful leader in Wisconsin, serving as a dean at the community college in Wisconsin Rapids.” 

Turner was born in Big Spring, Texas, and grew up in Monahans, Texas, a small West Texas town of about 8,000 people an hour’s drive southwest of Midland-Odessa. He was a member of Southside Baptist Church there. He graduated from Monahans High School in 1988.

As the Lord saved him and directed him into a life of ministry, Turner earned a Bachelor of Arts in religion with a psychology minor in 1992 at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas. He then earned a master of divinity with biblical languages in 1995 from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He earned a doctor of ministry in 2002, also from Southwestern.

While working on his doctorate, Turner served as pastor of Duffau Baptist Church in Hico, Texas, and then Northside Baptist Church in Kermit, Texas. He then was called as pastor of Canyon Creek Baptist Church in Temple, Texas, where he served from 2002-2009. He left that position to plant Church at Wazeecha in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.

Turner is currently a member of the MWBC executive board, serving a term that began last year. He also previously served from 2018-2020. While in Texas, he served on the executive board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas from 2006-2008. He has been actively involved with the Southern Wisconsin Baptist Association since moving north; in Texas he was active in the associations in the areas where he served: Bell County, Erath County and Pecos Valley Baptist Associations. Chaplaincy has played an important role in Turner’s ministry. He serves as a chaplain for the Wisconsin Rapids Police Department, as well as a workplace chaplain for Corporate Chaplains of America.

The Turners’ relocation from Texas to Wisconsin grew out of a partnership between the Bell and Southern Wisconsin associations. Serving as pastor at Canyon Creek Baptist Church in Temple at the time, Turner signed up to volunteer at a church in Madison, Wis., in March of 2009. By July he and his family had relocated to Wisconsin Rapids, he had become a Mission Service Corps volunteer through the North American Mission Board, and they had started a house church, Church at Wazeecha.

“I had been feeling a pull to missions,” he said at the time. “We were doing a good job of taking care of ourselves, but I still had a sense of seeing more people coming to know the Lord.” 

“The partnership between Bell Baptist Association and Southern Wisconsin Baptist Association was visionary to be able to see the need in other areas,” he said. 

“We have been led well,” Turner said of his predecessor. “Leo has helped the MWBC traverse some tight financial times. It was his unique skill set. We get to dream about the future instead of worry about the present because of Leo Endel.”

For Turner, those dreams about the future focus on missions and healthy ministry.

“Let’s discover five more strategic opportunities, walk through them and dream again,” he said. “At home, the healthiest ministry leaders will lead the healthiest churches and ministries. I hope to bring added health and strength to our churches, missions and planting through the two states,” adding that he wants to “connect our churches to their early pioneering heritage and move into a healthy ministry future.”

Mark Millman, church planting catalyst/director of missions for Greater Wisconsin Baptist Association (formerly Southern Wisconsin Baptist Association), said Turner “will be a great asset to the leaders and churches of the MWBC for years to come. Trey already has many strong connections and is looking forward to the challenges ahead of him.”

In other action, the executive board:

• Elected Tia Underbakke as M-W Woman’s Missionary Union executive director.
• Approved a $7,500 Burress-Littleford Grant to Westosha Community Church in Twin Lakes, Wis., where Grayson Gilbert is the pastor.
• Opened a special account in the M-W Baptist Foundation to be initially funded by a promised gift from the estate of Otha Winningham, the first MWBC executive director, who died Nov. 16, 2024. The fund will be used to help fund the salary, housing and expenses of the MWBC executive director position.  

EDITOR’S NOTE — David Williams is editor of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist, news journal of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention.