The Senior Pastor Search Team, along with the Church Staff and the Elders, are pleased to recommend that the South Lebanon Community Church call Cecil Morris as our next Senior Pastor.
Cecil currently lives in Prospect, NY with his wife, Kim, and five of their children. The Morris family includes seven children (Paige 29, Emily 26, Andrew 20, Zakiya 18, Jaxon 12, Danny 11, and Alayna 9), two sons-in-law (Ryan and Evan), and four grandchildren (Caleb 5, Alex 3, Julianna 5 months and Ellie 4 months). Four of the children (Andrew, Jaxon, Danny and Alayna) are still living at home and would be moving to the Lebanon area with their parents.
Cecil came to know Jesus as his personal Savior in 1999 and soon followed God’s call into ministry. He served as Assistant/Youth Pastor at Sara Bay Baptist Church in Bradenton, FL from 2003 until 2010. While at Sara Bay Baptist Church, Cecil received his certification to preach in 2005, was ordained in 2007 and earned both a Bachelor’s and Master of Ministry degree from Andersonville Theological Seminary in Camilla, GA, completing that work in 2010.
In 2010, Cecil moved his family from Florida to Prospect, NY where he accepted the call to become the Senior Pastor of Bethel Baptist Church. God used Cecil to lead Bethel Baptist to have an outward focus with community outreach and the congregation grew from 50 to 250 attending the Sunday morning services. In 2023, he earned the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biblical Studies from Louisiana Baptist Theological Seminary.
In addition to being a student of God’s Word, Cecil enjoys reading books on leadership and enjoys building up others to be empowered to do the work that God has called them to do, both as individuals and as part of a team. Due to his passion for reaching people with the Good News, Cecil has taken advantage of opportunities in the community (sitting on the school board, coaching football, serving with Corporate Chaplains of America) to meet and interact with people who may not have come to visit the church, but are interested to hear about his relationship with Jesus. In his personal time, he enjoys time with family and friends, watching football (Detroit Lions and Michigan Wolverines) and riding motorcycle.