The Philadelphia Baptist Association (PBA) is staffed by a dedicated team that is committed to serving and holding in trust the congregations, missions and ministries that make up this region of the American Baptist Churches USA.
Rev. Dr. Valerie Andrews began serving as the Interim Executive Regional Minister on January 2, 2025.
was born in Pompano Beach, Fl. She accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Savior and was baptized at the age of twelve while attending the Mt. Bethel Baptist Church. In 1977, her family relocated to Philadelphia, PA. She attended William Penn High School graduating as the Class Salutatorian. Dr. Andrews, furthered her education at Millersville University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts English and a Master of Counseling Education degree.
During graduate school, she attended the Bright Side Baptist Church, where The Rev. Dr. Louis A. Butcher, Jr., served as her pastor. While there, she was called to the Gospel Ministry of Preaching and was licensed by this congregation on January 24, 1986. Returning to Philadelphia in 1988, she joined the Triumph Baptist Church, serving for 17 years under the pastorate of The Rev. Dr. James S. Hall, Jr. In 2005, she was ordained by the Philadelphia Eastern Keystone Baptist Association, and began her studies at the Palmer Theological Seminary, graduating in 2008 with a Master of Divinity degree.
As a seminary intern at The Church of the Redeemer Baptist, in 2007 she joined this body of believers, serving on staff as Business Manager until 2016. In this role, she managed the day- to-day operations of the church under the leadership of The Rev. Dr. Wayne E. Croft, Sr. and later, The Rev. Omari Hughes. She also served as Executive Administrative Assistant to The Rev. Dr. Damone B. Jones, Sr., Pastor of the Bible Way Baptist Church, and was the former Program Director of the Program for Urban Leaders and Pastors in Transition (PULPIT) at the Missio Seminary in Philadelphia, PA. Most recently, she was the Program Administrator for the Ministers Council of ABCUSA, where she provided direct and administrative assistance to both the leadership team and clergy across the world.
Dr. Andrews is a graduate of Thomas Jefferson University (East Falls Campus) formerly, Philadelphia University, where she completed and received a doctoral degree in Management of Strategic Leadership in December 2021.
Dr. Andrews is exceptionally gifted in managing church operations and highly skilled in training church leadership. She serves as an instructor for United Lutheran Seminary’s Urban Theological Institute’s Certificate Program, teaching Servant Leadership, Church Administration and Managing Church Conflict. In March, 2019, she was installed as the Pastor of the Eternal Life Missionary Baptist Church; a Liberian-Baptist congregation in Southwest Philadelphia.
Her life scripture is Isaiah 40:31, “But they that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.”
Her passion in ministry is to enhance leadership for the Kingdom of God, by providing training and tools for clergy and congregations that will strengthen church effectiveness!
Rev. Dr. Jill Bradway began on June 1, 2023 serving as the Associate Regional Pastor for Congregational Continuous Learning.
She is a native of Philadelphia, PA. She received her primary education in both the public and private school systems. She attended Temple University, studying Business Law and Human Resource Management. Dr. Bradway is a 2-time graduate of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity, Rochester, NY earning the M.Div. in Theology and Preaching in 2006, and the D. Min in Transformative Leadership in 2011. She believes her doctoral dissertation: African American Women and the Imago Dei: Reclaiming God’s Vision of Wholeness, is more relevant today than when she wrote it and continues to look for ways to share it.
Dr. Bradway spent 13 years as a University Chaplain at the Rochester Institute of Technology and served as Interim Pastor for 3 churches in Upstate New York before going to Alaska. Dr. Bradway was the Senior Pastor of First American Baptist Church, Anchorage, Alaska for 3 years. She was the first African American woman to be Senior Pastor of a Baptist Church in Anchorage. And she was the first woman elected President of the Alaska Baptist Churches & Institutions State Convention and served for 1 term before returning to the lower 48 due to the COVID-19 Global Pandemic.
From 2021 to the first part of 2022, Dr. Bradway worked remotely as Lead Content Development & Research Specialist for Redhouse Performance Consulting, LLC, a DEI (diversity-equity-inclusion) firm that provides strategy, leadership engagement, policy and program development, internal training, recruiting, and other DEI related projects for large, global organizations focused on building vibrant and tolerant societies through the advancement of justice, education, public health, and independent media.
From April 2022 to May 2023, she has served as the Interim Pastor with the Silverside Church in Wilmington, DE.
Dr. Bradway has two adult daughters with whom she shares a close, loving relationship.
Rev. Julia Bruton-Sheppard 
On November 1, 2016, Rev. Julia Bruton-Sheppard began as Program Facilitator for Communication and Leader Development. Currently, this part time commitment provides support for the Intergenerational Clergy Small Group Initiative of the PBA Minister’s Council. There are four groups gathering monthly. Rev. Bruton-Sheppard supervises the work of the consultants assisting in the facilitation of the groups. Her life verse is Psalm 27:4, “I’m asking God for one thing, only one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long. I’ll contemplate his beauty; I’ll study at his feet.” Peterson’s The Message Rev. Bruton-Sheppard, in her first career as a nurse, she found her most rewarding experience in the field of Hospice Home Care. During those 14 years God presented me with many life-lessons caring for those at the end of life. God blessed me to become a wife. She is the proud mother of 1 daughter and 3 sons. She is also the grandmother of 4 granddaughters and 2 grandsons, and a great-grand mother of a beautiful girl. In 1989 Rev. Bruton-Sheppard was licensed to preach, ordained in 1993 and presently hold the position of Associate Minister at the Mt. Carmel Baptist Church where Rev. Dr. Donald D. Moore is Pastor. Her formal education includes a BA degree in Jewish Studies at Gratz College in Melrose Park, PA; She went on to a Master of Divinity Degree at the Reformed Episcopal Seminary in Blue Bell, PA. She is a practicing Spiritual Director. By nature she is an introvert by nature and treasure quiet time. However, what brings her out of solitude is a call to help the disenfranchised and the most vulnerable. You may find her helping someone more senior than herself or joining programs that provide vital support for them. Julia is an avid traveler; she has seen many marvels in God’s world through the lens of a camera. Those images have created memories to last the rest of her life. She states, “I seek your prayers as I begin this new position as Program Facilitator for Communication and Leader Development for PBA. Because of them, I look forward to how God will continue to answer my prayer posed in Psalm 27:4.”
Ms. Janet Reedy began her ministry with the PBA in February 1990. She currently serves as the Office Manager. Over the years, while serving as an Administrative Assistant, she has been responsible for many portfolios including Regional Outreach, Local Church Ministries, Discipleship and World Mission Support. Part of her duties includes event planning, such as the Annual Meeting and the annual Mission Banquet. She also is responsible for mission receipts and distribution, record keeping, statistical data and reports and providing support for the Finance Office. Janet is a graduate of Gordon College and Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (now Palmer Seminary), with a Masters of Arts in Religion.
Ms. Shayla McJunkin has served as a social media consultant since September 2021. She has assisted the PBA in creating a research report about the importance of social media engagement for the organization and is relaunching the PBA’s Facebook account to keep our churches connected with each other and with their communities. Shayla earned two bachelor of arts degrees in Psychology and Music Performance from Simmons University in May of 2021, and is currently in Widener University’s Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology.