• Contact Us
  • Classifieds
  • About
  • Home

Pathway

Missouri Baptist Convention's Official News Journal

  • Missouri
    • MBC
    • Churches
    • Institutions & Agencies
    • Policy
    • Disaster Relief
  • National
    • SBC Annual Meeting
    • NAMB
    • SBC
    • Churches
    • Policy
    • Society & Culture
  • Global
    • Missions
    • Multicultural
  • Columnists
    • Wes Fowler
    • Ben Hawkins
    • Pat Lamb
    • Rhonda Rhea
    • Rob Phillips
  • Ethics
    • Life
    • Liberty
    • Family
  • Faith
    • Apologetics
    • Religions
    • Evangelism
    • Missions
    • Bible Study & Devotion
  • E-Edition

More results...

Judge Zel Fischer

Missouri Baptist named Supreme Court chief justice

July 11, 2017 By The Pathway

JEFFERSON CITY – For the third time in 20 years, a Southern Baptist will serve as chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court.

Judge Zel Fischer, 54, a member of First Baptist Church, Tarkio, became the new chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court on July 1, succeeding former Chief Justice Patricia Breckenridge. Like all chief justices, Fischer will serve a two-year term, expiring July 1, 2019. Breckenridge will remain on the Supreme Court as a judge.

A native of Northwest Missouri who grew up in Watson, Fischer was appointed to the court in 2008 by then Gov. Matt Blunt. Blunt announced his appointment of Fischer on the grounds of the Atchison County Courthouse in Rock Port, citing Fischer’s judicial philosophy of strict interpretation of the state’s constitution and laws as the reason for his selection.

Fischer attended William Jewell College and the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. He worked as a law clerk for former Missouri Supreme Court Judge Andrew Jackson Higgins and then as a private attorney for many years before becoming an associate circuit judge in Atchison County in 2006. He still resides in Northwest Missouri with his wife, Julie Ann, and four children.

Fischer is the third Southern Baptist to serve as chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court since 1997. Former Judge John Holstein, appointed to the high court by former Gov. John Ashcroft, held the position from 1995-1997. Holstein, a long-time member of Second Baptist Church, Springfield, has returned to private practice.

Judge Duane Benton, also an Ashcroft appointee, followed Holstein. Benton, who attends Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Kansas City, served as chief justice from 1997-1999. He is presently a judge with the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in Kansas City.

Both Holstein and Benton have served as parliamentarians at annual meetings of the Missouri Baptist Convention throughout the years.

Comments

Featured Videos

Lick Creek Fellowship - A Story of Cooperation

A declining rural church faced closure after years of dwindling attendance and aging members. But after the doors closed, a small group stepped in to build something fresh from its legacy. Watch this video to hear this story of cooperation and new life.

Find More Videos

Trending

  • The blessing of staying

  • Amendment on role of women in pastoral ministry fails to achieve 2/3 vote

  • Citing challenges overcome 100 years ago, Iorg urges Southern Baptists to choose cooperation

  • Churches partner to start children’s Bible club

  • ‘Stand together’ for the sake of reaching nations, Chitwood tells SBC messengers

  • MBU sports team focuses on more than athletics

Ethics

FIRST-PERSON: Liberty for all – a Baptist distinctive

Baptist Press

As the echoes of Fourth of July fireworks fade and we turn our attention to the week ahead, Southern Baptists also will take a moment to celebrate a key freedom that Americans have long enjoyed and that Baptists have continually sought to defend.

Religious liberty ‘the best blessing’ America has, Baptist immigrants say

Baptist Press

More Ethics Stories

Missouri

Resolutions due 60 days before MBC annual meeting

Staff

Resolutions must be submitted in writing to the Committee on Resolutions at least 60 days prior to the first session of the annual meeting. Persons submitting resolutions must certify that they are messengers.

Copyright © 2025 · The Pathway