Our Pastors

Scott Dickison, Senior Pastor

Scott Dickison has served as Senior Pastor of Northminster since the summer of 2023 after serving as Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Christ in Macon, Georgia, for almost 11 years. He has also served congregations in Texas, Massachusetts, and North Carolina. After graduating with his undergraduate degree from Wake Forest University, Scott served for two years in the AmeriCorps, working for a small Habitat for Humanity affiliate in the Mississippi Delta. He earned his Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School in 2010 and completed a unit of CPE at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA. He recently completed his MFA in creative writing at Queen’s University in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a concentration in poetry.

He is a regular contributor to the Reflections daily devotional series through Next Sunday Resources, and has contributed to Eavesdropping on the Most Segregated Hour: A City’s Clergy Reflect on Racial Reconciliation and True Colors: Stories of Baptist Inclusion. He has also been a regular contributor to Baptist News Global. His poetry is forthcoming in Arkansas Review and Bellevue Literary Review. He has served in a variety of leadership capacities for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship on both the state and national levels, as well as steering committees and boards for a number of organizations, including the New Baptist Covenant, OneMacon 2.0, the Macon Action Plan, and the Clergy Council for Racial and Economic Justice through the office of the Macon-Bibb Mayor.

Scott enjoys running trails, Wake Forest athletics, Chicago Cubs baseball, and slow mornings. He is married to Audrey, who is an artist, and together they have three young sons, Billy, Sidney, and Mac, and a birddog named Moose, who is a good boy.

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Geoff Davidson, Associate Pastor for Students

Geoff Davidson serves as Associate Pastor for Students. Geoff grew up in Alabama and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama with a double major in religious studies and political science before completing his Master of Divinity at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary. Prior to coming to Northminster, Geoff served five years as youth ministries director at Parkway Hills UMC in Madison, MS, and pastored a small church outside of Waco, TX, while working in various education and nonprofit settings.

When Geoff isn’t at church he can most likely be found in a local coffee shop, out fishing in God’s gift of Creation, or in his kitchen dreaming about the next meal to host. He has been published on the intersection of faith and wider culture in a number of outlets, including The Bitter Southerner, Christ & Pop Culture, and Good Faith Media. Geoff and his wife Elizabeth share their home with three bad yet beloved companions: Mulligan, Migo (dogs), and Hamilton (cat).

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Lesley Ratcliff, Associate Pastor for Children and Adults

Lesley Ratcliff serves as Associate Pastor for Children and Adults, a role she transitioned to after serving seven years as Associate Pastor for Children. Since joining Northminster in 2011, she has helped shape and lead ministries that nurture faith formation across generations.

A graduate of Mississippi College, Lesley earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics with a minors in Secondary Education and Christian Studies before completing her Masters of Divinity at George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University. Her ministry is marked by a deep love of teaching, theological curiosity, and a commitment to helping individuals claim and own their faith at every stage of life.

Lesley and her husband, Brock, are the parents of two daughters, Marlow and Mary Alden. In her spare time, Lesley can be found hiking the Appalachian trail one section at a time, reading broadly, working algebra problems for fun, or gathered around a mahjong table.

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Marty Harper, Associate Pastor for Senior Adults

Marty Harper serves as the Associate Pastor for Senior Adults. She holds a master’s degree in counseling from Mississippi State University and a master of divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Marty is also trained as an Alzheimer’s support group facilitator. Following seminary graduation, Marty became the editor of a small town newspaper. Interestingly, those seven years proved to be ideal training for ministerial life as she learned the importance of connecting to people by listening to their stories.

Prior to assuming her current role at Northminster, Marty spent 20 years as a board certified hospital chaplain and ministries manager for Baptist HealthSystems in Jackson. Her chaplaincy training included 1600 hours of Clinical Pastoral Education, but perhaps her most treasured insights about aging and the special needs of senior adults were those she gained when serving for six years as primary caregiver for her elderly parents. While Marty is known for being a good “cat mom” to her beloved felines, she also enjoys exploring craft fairs, sharing meals with friends, and spending quality time with her extended family.

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