Brent Patrick McDougal

Dr. Brent McDougal is the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Knoxville, Tennessee. Each Sunday, he speaks to about 3,000 people through in-person, television, and online worship.

Brent received his B. A. in Religion/Political Science from Emory University and a Master of Divinity from Beeson Divinity School of Samford University. He also holds a Ph. D. in Political Science from the University of Alabama, a cross-discipline study of politics and religion.

Brent is the author of The River of the Soul and Faith, Hope and Politics. He has written numerous guest blog posts and articles, including “America’s Spiritual Pandemic” for Christianity Today.  A native of Alabama, Brent has a heart for bringing people together, cultivating atmospheres of prayer and encouraging devotion among church members as well as throughout the community at large.

Prior to joining the First Baptist Church of Knoxville, he served in Alabama and Texas.  In various ministry settings, Brent has been involved with launching significant prayer movements. Most recently, he started DallasPrays, an ecumenical call to city-wide prayer that included devotional writing, weekly prayer calls, and events that brought people together to pray for city transformation.

Brent and his wife Jennifer have two grown children, Christopher and Emily.