MBC Leadership

Dr. Wes Fowler
Executive Director

Dr. Wes Fowler is executive director-treasurer of the Missouri Baptist Convention. His primary calling is to help Missouri Baptist churches transform lives and communities with the gospel – through prayer and evangelism, missions mobilization, church planting, church renewal, and other ministries. He also stewards Cooperative Program funds given by Missouri Baptist churches; serves as publisher of The Pathway, the official news journal of the MBC; and he partners closely with affiliated Missouri Baptist entities. 

Prior to his current role, Fowler served 12 years as pastor of First Baptist Church, Mayfield, Ky. Mayfield is his hometown and FBC Mayfield is his home church. After serving more than 10 years in southern Georgia, Fowler was honored to be called home to pastor the very people who raised him in the Lord. 

Additionally, Fowler served as chairman of the board for Sunrise Children’s Services, Kentucky’s largest foster/residential childcare provider. He also served as president of the Kentucky Baptist Convention (2020–21), as a member of the Mission Board of the Kentucky Baptist Convention (2017–19), and as chairman for the search committee that brought Todd Gray to the KBC as executive director-treasurer in 2019. On behalf of the SBC, Fowler served on the Committee on Committees in 2022. 

Fowler earned a BA in political science at Valdosta State University (2003), an MDiv at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (2007), and a DMin at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (2015). In 2022, SBTS honored Fowler as Alumnus of the Year.

Fowler and his wife, Tara, married in 2004. They have three children: Brax, Bryley, and JP.

Rob Phillips
Associate Executive Director

Rob Phillips serves as associate executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention. He is responsible for MBC messaging, web, video and graphic services, live event support, technology, and promotion of the Cooperative Program and Missouri Missions Offering.

He also leads a statewide apologetics ministry, speaking in churches, leading conferences on defending the Christian faith, and providing free downloadable resources for pastors and teachers at oncedelivered.net.

Phillips has extensive communications experience in business and Christian ministry and has served as a bi-vocational pastor. He holds a B.A. in journalism from Oklahoma Baptist University and is certified in Christian apologetics from the North American Mission Board.

He is the author of 12 books including: The Apologist’s Took Kit; What Every Christian Should Know about the Trinity;What Every Christian Should Know about Satan; and, most recently, What Every Christian Should Know about the Return of Jesus.

Phillips and his wife, Nancy, have two children and reside in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Paula Earls
Chief Operations Officer

Paula Earls has been with the MBC since 2016.  She joined the staff as the administrative assistant for Business Services, leaving a position as editor of the California Democrat to serve in ministry with her husband, Alan, who pastors and serves as the director of missions for the Concord Baptist Association.

Later, she was promoted to the role of human resource director and has since become the chief operations officer (COO) for the MBC. She organizes the annual meeting, manages the staff of the MBC and their insurance needs, and directs other services.

Alan and Paula met during college while she served as a summer missionary from Kentucky in the inner city of St. Louis. Alan served in his BSU. Yes, your CP dollars at work brought this couple together almost 40 years ago.  They say serving the Lord together and putting Him first is the true key to a successful marriage. The Earls have two grown sons and three grandchildren.

Samantha Spencer
Chief Financial Officer

Samantha Spencer has been with the MBC since 2002 after working for the Missouri State Auditor’s Office upon graduation from Hannibal-LaGrange College.  She joined the staff as the accountant for the Business Services department and was later promoted to the controller position in July 2012. Since then, she has been named chief financial officer.  

Spencer is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the organization’s financial health, including budgeting, financial planning, reporting, cash flow management, compliance with regulations, risk management, and ensuring the organization operates efficiently and sustainably by aligning financial practices with the MBC’s mission and vision. 

Spencer holds a B.S. in accounting and a B.S. in business administration with an emphasis in finance. Spencer and her husband, Steve, live near Jefferson City and have four daughters and one grandson.

Rob Pochek
Team Leader

Rob Pochek is the team leader of the Prayer & Evangelism Group for the Missouri Baptist Convention. He is responsible for developing, implementing, and promoting a comprehensive strategy to help MBC-affiliated churches and associations prioritize prayer and evangelism. This includes engaging Missouri Baptists in a statewide prayer initiative and leading numerous evangelism events across our state.

Pochek served as senior pastor of First Baptist Church on Park Street, Charlottesville, Virginia, from 2016 to 2025, leading his growing church to become more passionate about prayer, evangelism, and discipleship. Prior to his call to First Baptist, he served churches in Missouri, Illinois, and North Carolina.

He earned an M.Div. and a Ph.D. in missions/evangelism from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and has authored The Unleashed Church.

Pochek and his wife, Susan, are proud parents of two adult children, David and Jessica.

Martin Winslow
Team Leader

Martin Winslow is the team leader of the Missions Mobilization Group for the Missouri Baptist Convention. He also leads the Cross-Cultural-Collective in St. Louis through the St. Louis Metro Baptist Association. He formerly served full-time as the missions pastor for Canaan Baptist Church in St. Louis.

Winslow is the founder and president of Bethlehem Christian Academy. BCA starts Christian schools in hard-to-reach places around the world as a means of sharing the gospel and planting churches. BCA has partnerships in Senegal, Liberia, Zambia, Burundi, Malawi, India, and Mexico. These schools minister to more than 2,000 full-time students. He’s also the director of Canaan Global, a ministry of Canaan Baptist Church that trains pastors internationally.

He holds a B.A. in biblical studies from Southwest Baptist University and a Master’s in biblical languages from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Winslow has been married to his high school sweetheart, Amy, for more than 25 years. He has five children: Noah, Anna, Emma, Laura, and Nati.

Buddy Funk
Team Leader

Buddy Funk serves as team leader for Church Renewal for the Missouri Baptist Convention. He is responsible for equipping and strengthening today’s churches and church leaders; discovering the next generation of leaders and preparing them to serve; and mobilizing leaders for Kingdom service in every sphere of influence. He directs the MBC’s pastoral ministry, transitional pastor training, church revitalization, and support events.

Funk has served in ministry for more than 30 years. He has served churches in Arkansas and Missouri. In addition to other responsibilities, he directs the Resound Network with a vision to see a movement of renewed churches resounding for the glory of God.

Funk earned a Bachelor of Arts in Christian Ministries at Southwest Baptist University; a Master of Divinity at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; a Master of Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; and a Doctor of Ministry from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Funk and his wife, Casey have three children and one granddaughter.

Jason Zellmer
SEND Missouri

Jason Zellmer is a husband, father, pastor, and church planter. He has been serving in ministry for more than 20 years. Currently, he is the Director of Send Network Missouri and is the Lead Pastor of Antioch Troy in Troy, Missouri.

Zellmer and his wife also own and direct Redemption Ranch in Winfield, Missouri, where they host camps, retreats, and weddings year-round.

Zellmer holds a B.A. in business administration from Lindenwood University and has also studied at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Following graduation, he’s planted four churches in the greater St. Louis area. He and his wife, Heather, have six children and one grandson. Together they share a passion for foster care/adoption and the outdoors.

Gaylon Moss
Director

Gaylon Moss has served as the director of Disaster Relief for the Missouri Baptist Convention since July 2018.  Prior to his work in Missouri, he served almost 20 years in the same role for the North Carolina Baptist Convention.

Moss’s work includes readiness, response, and recovery responsibilities through the effort of volunteers. Together, they seek to help churches transform lives and communities with the gospel by bringing help, hope, and healing.

Moss and his wife reside near Jefferson City and have three daughters. He holds a B.A. in business administration from Campbell University in North Carolina and Master of Divinity from Southwestern Theological Seminary.

Jerome Stockert
Director

Jerome Stockert is the director of collegiate ministry at the Missouri Baptist Convention. He 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 was also a North American Mission Board missionary, serving as the Metro Pittsburgh/Southwest Pennsylvania director for collegiate ministries for nine years. In addition to collegiate ministry, Jerome served as a church planter and pastor in Bossier City, Louisiana.

Stockert holds a Master of Divinity from The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a B.A. in biology from Arkansas State University. He and his wife, Andrea, have three children.