GEORGETOWN, Ky. (ABP) -- Joel Gregory, former pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, has been named a distinguished fellow at Georgetown College in Kentucky.

In that part-time consulting role, Gregory will visit the campus several times a year and serve as an ambassador-at-large for the Kentucky Baptist-related school.

Among his major responsibilities will be leading "Proclaimers Place," a small-group preaching seminar; coordinating alumni and friends travel, such as a 10-day study tour on "Great Preachers of Great Britain"; and serving as a liaison to the African-American church community, including work with the school's Underground Railroad Research Institute.

"I'm very excited about the opportunity that has emerged," Gregory said. "President Bill Crouch surprised me by asking if I would consider joining the college in this position. After talking with him for a while, we worked out an agreement that was approved by the trustees."

"I'm totally positive about this relationship," he added. "I think we can do a new thing together."

Gregory will continue to live in Fort Worth, Texas, and also will continue his preaching and teaching ministry through Joel Gregory Ministries.

Despite his high-profile resignation as pastor of First Baptist of Dallas, in 1992 and the publication of his subsequent book, Too Great a Temptation: The Seductive Power of America's Super Church, Gregory's "star is rising again in many quarters of the Baptist world," said Eric Fruge, Georgetown's director of church relations.

A graduate of Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Gregory also is former pastor of Travis Avenue Baptist Church and Gambrell Street Baptist Church in Fort Worth, a former preaching professor at Southwestern and a two-term president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

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