Dr. Delvin Atchison currently serves as the Senior Pastor of Westside Baptist Church in Lewisville, Texas, and as the Director of the Great Commission Team for Texas Baptists in Dallas, Texas. He studied Philosophy and Psychology as an undergraduate student at the University of Texas at Austin. In October 2004, Pastor Atchison was conferred an Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree from St. Thomas Christian College and Seminary in Jacksonville, Florida. Pastor Atchison was awarded his Master of Divinity Degree with honors from George W. Truett Seminary, Baylor University, Waco, Texas on May 14, 2010. During the graduation ceremony, he was awarded the Robert Jackson Robinson Outstanding Preaching Student Award for his graduating class. He is currently enrolled in The Doctor of Ministry program at Truett Seminary.
He began public speaking at age 9 and his preaching ministry at the age of 16 years of age under the late Rev. C. L. Simpson, pastor of the Progressive Missionary Baptist Church of Hearne. His pastorate includes the 114-year-old Antioch Missionary Baptist Church of Waco, Texas, Bethel Baptist Church of Crockett, TX, Progressive Missionary Baptist Church of Cameron, TX and the Old Providence Missionary Baptist Church of Branchville, TX for a total of thirty-five years pastoring.
In the summer 2006, Pastor Atchison matriculated at Regent’s Park College, Oxford University, England under the tutelage of his mentor and friend, Dr. Joel Gregory. In 2011, he returned to Oxford to participate in the 1stAnnual UK African American Preaching Festival. Pastor Atchison preached in South Hampton. He also traveled to Rome, Italy to study at the Vatican in 2013.
His major body of work centers around “Page to Pulpit”, an expository preaching and exegetical sermon preparation seminar. His calling is to equip pastors and preachers. He is an inaugural member of Truett Seminary’s 2015, preacher mentoring and coaching program funded by a $500,000 Lilly Endowment grant.
His sermons have been published in numerous periodicals such as Epitome,The Groves standard, the Truett Pulpit and other publications. He has also represented Truett Seminary in Christianity Today, Common Call and Baptist Voice. He has presented at numerous conferences worldwide including IC3 conference, Dr.C.E. Glover, Beyond the Ordinary: A strategy for Transforming Christian Leaders, EK Bailey Preachers Conference and numerous colleges, universities and seminaries.
Pastor Atchison has served on the Editorial Advisory Board for the Baylor School of Social Work Journal, Board for the Law Enforcement Academy of McLennan Community College, the Dispute Resolution Commission of McLennan County, and Advisory Board of Cottonwood Creek Golf Course. He served as chair of the Black Pastors’ Roundtable, a spiritual formation group for senior pastors, at Truett.
He is married to our First Lady, the former Dr. Brenda Groves and together they have five children. He is the second son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Atchison, Jr. of Hearne, Texas and the fifth of sixth siblings