New Senior Pastor at Shiloh Baptist Has Ministerial Roots Dating Five Generations

By Brenda H. Andrews Publisher
New Journal and Guide
NORFOLK

On Sunday, June 7, 2026, Shiloh Baptist Church of Norfolk is prepared to welcome to the pulpit its newest senior pastor in the church’s 146 years of existence. After a near two-year search for the leader, church officials and members earlier this year chose Rev. Dr. Jonathan Michael Tennial for the position.

Dr. Tennial arrives from Winston-Salem, N.C., where, until now, he was serving as Admissions and Enrollment Counselor at Wake Forest University School of Divinity and Associate Pastor at Galilee Missionary Baptist Church. With 14 active years of experience in ministry work, his sterling reputation and his resume of accomplishments suggest he may be older than his 40-something age. But that’s because  he answered the call of God to preach and began the spiritual journey in his 20s.

He was licensed to preach at his childhood church, New Zion Baptist Church in 2011 and ordained by the Baptist Ministers Fellowship of Chicago and Vicinity in June 2012.

In fact, as he tells the story, his journey could be said to predate his birth.

His maternal grandmother has lineage back to the antebellum period of American enslavement when his fifth and sixth great grandfathers (Allen Tate, Sr. and Allen Tate, Jr.) were given the deed to two acres on the Tate plantation in Benton, Mississippi in 1884. It would be organized as Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Benton, with Allen Tate, Sr. as the first pastor and Allen Tate, Jr. the second pastor.

On his maternal grandfather’s side, four of his great-grand uncles organized and pastored congregations in Chicago. Further, his maternal grandfather organized and pastored two churches in Chicago and four of his mother’s brothers were pastors/preachers.

During an interview for this story, Tennial chuckled about receiving his own personal call to preach, “It was not something I ran to …”

But surely it was something he could not and did not run from, he said. Nor has he ever doubted his calling, as he has reconciled himself to know his profession as one called by God.

Tennial earned his Bachelor of Arts from Xavier University; his Master of Divinity from Wake Forest University; and his Doctor of Ministry from United Technological Seminary. Additionally, his Clinical Pastoral Education credentials allowed him to serve as a hospital chaplain and provider of spiritual care to patients, families and healthcare staff.

The new Senior Pastor will relieve Shiloh’s Interim Pastor for the past several months, Rev. Dr. Amanda Haines, the former Youth Minister at Shiloh from 2014-2022 who currently serves on the national level at Lott Carey Headquarters in Maryland. She has traveled weekly to Norfolk to lead the church during  its transitional period.

Tennail ascends to the position held by several well-known and community-oriented men in the church’s history, one being Rev. Dr. Keith I. Jones, the immediate Past Senior Pastor from 2008 to 2024. Jones, a former Army chaplain, maintained a high profile in Hampton Roads among his clergymen and women, while serving on a number of community outreach boards, to include the Norfolk State University Foundation Board for several years.

For forty years from 1967 to 2007, the church’s Senior Pastor was the late Rev. Dr. John D. Foster who also served on the Norfolk School Board and Norfolk City Council. In 2003, he became the first African-American to receive the prestigious First Citizen Distinguished Service Award from the Cosmopolitan Club of Norfolk.

Pastor Tennail has served  as Senior Pastor at Calvary Baptist Church of Chicago; and pastor in Residence at the Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, N.Y. He also has worked in higher education roles at Wiley University and Johnson C. Smith University, and, most recently Wake Forest University School of Divinity.

Beyond his professional roles, Dr. JT, as he is called by some, is a gifted musician, active member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and proud uncle to his beloved “Charly Girl.”

Shiloh’s Diaconate Chairman, George Parker, who led the church’s near two-year search, said in the church’s press statement announcing its new Senior Pastor, “We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Tennial to our congregation. We believe his leadership will help guide us into a vibrant new chapter as Shiloh continues to be a beacon of love, serving Christ while serving people.”

Dr. JT said friends describe him as a bridge-builder who connects people and embodies both traditional and contemporary approaches to ministry.

One guest to Shiloh who heard him preach recently during the Easter Sunday morning service described him a “young preacher with an old soul.”

He pondered the description before saying he sees himself called to be with people in all phases of life.

The new Senior Pastor said he is excited about coming to Shiloh and learning what God has been doing in and through the church and, now, he is becoming a part of where God is leading Shiloh.

Tennial grew up in Chicago, which he describes as a city of neighborhoods. He envisions Hampton Roads with its seven-city massive landscape as similar in that the people he will soon encounter at Shiloh will come from cities throughout the area, requiring him to relate to people across different demographics, professions and generations.

Dr. JT says he is looking  to reestablish the historic relationship between Shiloh Baptist and its closest neighbor – Norfolk State University. He believes his background in higher education is a special asset toward that end.

“We have an opportunity to make Shiloh a spiritual home for students; a place where young people can be nurtured and challenged,” he said.

He has fond memories of his own college days and how through attending church-sponsored Sunday dinner meals, he and fellow students developed a camaraderie among themselves that continued into adulthood. He will be looking for ways to foster that kind of fellowship experience for college students locally.

Dr. Tennial has some bold ideas about community involvement and development and the importance of the church as an agent of change outside of the walls of the building.

“God cares deeply about how we live in community,” he said.

As his arrival date draws near, Pastor Tennial says he’s up to the challenges that await him. And when necessary, he’s open to saying, “I don’t know,” as he seeks solutions. “The church needs to be honest,” he said. “The most faithful thing a pastor can say is ‘I don’t know.’”

He continued, “Young people want to see that we also have some doubts and struggles, too.”

That idea led him to a discussion about the value of “struggling” as part of developing faith in believing that God can resolve difficult challenges.

In the church’s press statement, he called his selection a “sacred privilege.

“I believe God is guiding this congregation into a new season marked by renewed unity, spiritual depth, and fresh vision for ministry.”

He continued, “I am eager to walk alongside this church family – preaching the Word faithfully, loving people well, and helping equip every member to live out their faith with courage and compassion in our community.”