JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (MBC) – Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) Executive Director Wes Fowler has named Jerome Stockert the new director of collegiate ministries, effective August 1. Jerome currently serves Missouri Baptists as a campus missionary at the University of Central Missouri. He will temporarily continue in that role as the BSU leadership at UCM searches for his replacement.
Jerome has been part of collegiate campus ministry for more than 30 years, serving on campuses at Arizona State University, Arkansas State University, and, most recently, the University of Central Missouri. He also served nine years as a missionary through the North American Mission Board as the Metro Collegiate Director in Pittsburgh.
Jerome Stockert
Jerome also served as a church planter/pastor in Bossier City, La. There, he sought to reach young adults by starting a coffee shop in a 500-unit apartment complex near an air base and community college of 9,000 students. It was in this coffee shop that he later began a church that grew from a handful of attendees to 75 in weekly attendance.
“I am so grateful for Jerome’s faithful ministry on college campuses across our country, and for the experience and wisdom he brings to this new role,” said Fowler. “He is well-known and well-respected in collegiate ministry, and I am thankful the Lord has prepared him for this new phase in ministry.”
Fowler also expressed gratitude to Jason Yarnell, who served as interim director of Collegiate Ministries following the death of long-time director Gene Austin in 2023. Yarnell, along with Administrative Assistant Tamara Parry, provided excellent leadership and support throughout the transition period, said Fowler.
Stockert earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and a minor in chemistry from Arkansas State University (1989) and a Master of Divinity with an emphasis in biblical languages at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (1994).
He and his wife, Andrea, have three grown children and two sons-in-law: Caleb, Kaitlyn (Kendrick), and Callie (Tyler).