ORLANDO–Two pastors are slated to be nominated to serve as president of the 2025-26 Florida Baptist Pastors’ Conference.

The nominations will come during this year’s Pastors’ Conference meeting, set for Nov. 9-10 at First Orlando, held in conjunction with the Florida Baptist State Convention annual meeting.

Ethan Jago, 5 Bridges Church, Panama City

Ethan Jago, lead pastor of 5 Bridges Church in Panama City, will be nominated by fellow Florida Baptist pastor Jeff Childers to serve as president of the 2025-26 Florida Baptist Pastors’ Conference.

Childers, lead pastor of  The Shepherd’s Church in Baker, said, “Ethan Jago is passionate, first and foremost, about seeing the Word of God taking its rightful place of authority in both the lives of individuals and in the church corporately. His life, ministry and preaching reflect that this is true. You can look merely at his resume without knowing him personally and discern that whatever this guy is doing, he is sold out in doing it.”

Jago’s resume includes being a U.S. Air Force Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE) Specialist for 15 years and then serving as a private military contractor for four years beyond that, Childers said.

“Even presently, he is continuing somewhat in that same vein as the founder and owner of a Brazilian Ju Jitsu training facility while also being the pastor at 5 Bridges Church,” he said.

Following his career in the military, he served as the young adults pastor at Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola.

Jago hosts the Battlefield Theologian Podcast, and he co-authored a study through 1 & 2 Peter, an eight-session Bible study for teens, with his wife Dianne, released in October 2024.

“Ethan would attack the responsibilities of being president of the Pastors’

Conference with the same dedication and fervor that he has exhibited in all these other accomplishments. But most importantly, he will do it with the burning desire to see the totality of the Word of God transcendent in the hearts and minds of every pastor present,” Childers said.

Jago holds a Master of Divinity in Apologetics degree and a Doctor of Ministry in Theology/Apologetics degree both from Liberty University.

He and his wife have three children.

Jeff Robinson, Grace Fellowship: A Church for All Nations, West Palm Beach

Jeff Robinson, pastor of Grace Fellowship: A Church for All Nations in West Palm Beach, will be nominated by fellow Florida Baptist pastor James Ross to serve as president of the 2025-26 Florida Baptist Pastors’ Conference.

Ross, pastor of Church on Bayshore in Niceville, said, “It will be my honor to nominate Jeff Robinson to serve as president of the 2025-26 Florida Baptist Pastors’ Conference. Having grown up in a pastor’s home, Jeff understands the unique pressures on pastors and their families. Jeff’s desire to strengthen and encourage fellow pastors is obvious to anyone who knows him.

“I learned this about Jeff when I first met him more than 20 years ago during my first semester as a student at the Baptist University of Florida (BCF at the time). He was a recent graduate and was pastoring nearby Iron City Baptist Church. He invested time in guys who were a step behind him, encouraging us and equipping us as we pursued God’s call on our lives.”

Robinson has served as lead pastor of Grace Fellowship: A Church for All Nations since 2016. Under his leadership, the church has experienced “incredible growth in baptisms, discipleship and leadership development,” Ross said, and Robinson has also “led the church to become more involved in Baptist life.”

Serving beyond his local church, “Jeff has modeled service to our convention, serving as the first vice president for the State Board of Missions and as the chair of the search team that recommended Stephen Rummage to the role of Florida Baptists’ executive director-treasurer. If Jeff is elected by my fellow Florida Baptist pastors to lead the 2025-26 Pastors’ Conference, I am certain that God will be honored, leaders will be equipped and unity will be strengthened,” Ross said.

Robinson holds an Advanced Master of Divinity in Apologetics degree from Southwestern Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Philosophy in Apologetics degree from Liberty University. He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in philosophy, apologetics and theology, and he is the author of Persuasive Apologetics: The Art of Handling Tough Questions without Pushing People Away.

He and his wife have four sons.