Published on July 25, 2025 by Neal Embry  
DericThomasFamily

Reading through Deric Thomas’ biography might make you think he’s lived a handful of lifetimes.

From serving his country as part of the Army National Guard of Alabama to serving the Lord’s church in the pastorate to working as a janitor, starting his own business, serving in administrative roles at multiple places of higher education and earning four degrees—and working on two more—Thomas is a busy man. He’s done all of that while raising six children, ranging in age from 21 years old to 5 years old.

“When I was 19 years old, Jesus graciously rescued me from sin, selfishness, arrogance and laziness,” Thomas said. “Because He first loved and served me, He has been teaching me to love and serve the Father and others with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, all for His glory, praise and honor. My heart resonates with the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:15, ‘By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.’ It is all of grace.”

The Lord has now led Thomas to Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School, where he serves as director of the seminary’s Lay Academy, taking over for Jim Pounds, who retired in July after 25 years of faithful service to the Lord and to Beeson. The Lay Academy offers classes on the Bible, theology and more, taught by Beeson faculty, for ministers and laypersons seeking further education. Thomas will also serve as the school’s director of operations.

“To see the way Jim has used his business acumen to love and serve the faculty, staff and students at Beeson is challenging and inspiring,” Thomas said.

For the last 20 years, Thomas has had roles that serve the local church, whether as a pastor, church planter or as an administrator in Christian higher education.

Thomas graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Bible and theology from Southeastern Bible College in 2003 and went on to earn two master’s degrees from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, before earning his Doctor of Ministry degree from Beeson in 2015. He’s now all-but-dissertation in a PhD at Liberty University and will soon earn an MBA from Samford.

His first job in the church, however, didn’t involve preaching from the pulpit, though he did ensure it was clean for the man who did.

As a college student in 1999, after hearing a sermon on John 13, when Jesus washes the disciple’s feet, Thomas asked if he could help clean the building of the church he was attending, The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. That role taught him how to “better love the body of Christ.”

Thomas arrived at Southern in 2003 as a student, and after his first semester became the assistant director of admissions. Also in 2003, Thomas became pastor of First Baptist Church of Hartsville, Indiana, where he served as he studied and continued to work at SBTS.

Thomas has since pastored many churches and led cross-cultural mission trips to 14 different countries, as well as serving in various administrative roles in Christian higher education. He also began his own trucking company, Trucking for the Glory of God, in 2016.

“I had been teaching business as mission and sensed the Lord wanted me to step out and do business,” Thomas said.

The “street MBA” he received from that experience is now being complemented by Samford’s MBA. He’s also finishing up a PhD through Liberty University, where his dissertation focuses on a Trinitarian view of ethnic and racial unity amidst diversity, tracing how Scripture displays the unity of the church as an expression of God’s glory.

Thomas has also taught in Samford’s Core Texts program for five years and said he loves the university’s mission and vision. After talking with Beeson’s dean Douglas Sweeney, Thomas sensed the Lord had prepared him for his new role, both from a business and academic side as well with his ministry experience.

“As the director of operations, I want to prioritize caring well for our people, and wisely stewarding our money and facilities, in that order,” Thomas said. “I love the people here – the staff, faculty and students, their churches and their nations.”

In his free time, Thomas enjoys coaching his children’s sports teams, playing sports, serving as a chaplain in the Army National Guard and fishing.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks with the second highest score in the nation for its 98% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.