Dr. Gene Wilkes is the President and Professor of New Testament and Leadership of B. H. Carroll Theological Institute, Irving, TX. Dr. Wilkes embraces the Institute’s mission to “equip men and women called to serve Christ in the diverse and global ministries of his church.” He has authored eleven books, including Jesus On Leadership: Timeless Wisdom on Servant Leadership and A New Way of Living: Practicing the Beatitudes every day. Dr. Wilkes received his Ph.D. in New Testament Studies and his M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He graduated from Baylor University with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion and Greek.

Dr. Wilkes served as Senior Pastor of Legacy Church, Plano, TX, for twenty-six years prior to coming to Carroll Institute as Vice President of Development. During his local church ministry, Legacy Church transitioned to become “a mission outpost where every member is a missionary in his or her mission field.” Two unique ministries of the church were its English Language Program, which has over 150 students weekly studying five levels of English, and the Legacy Cyclists, which meets Sunday afternoons for group rides and cycling events. Both ministries led people to trust Jesus, be baptized and become members of Legacy and sister churches in the community.

Legacy Church was a Teaching Church in the B. H. Carroll Nexus, and Dr. Wilkes was a Resident Fellow and Ph.D. Supervisor for Carroll from 2005 until his retirement there. Carroll seeks to return theological education to the local church and restore the value of Pastor/Teacher in local ministry. Dr. Wilkes has also taught Biblical Servant Leadership as an adjunct professor in the Gary Cook School of Leadership at Dallas Baptist University at both the Masters and Ph.D. levels. Along with his teaching ministry, Dr. Wilkes speaks nationally and internationally on the topic of servant leadership and as a Bible teacher. Some of the international sites include Mexico, Cuba, China, Vietnam, Albania, Greece, Russia, Canada, Portugal and Honduras. Dr. Wilkes lives in Plano, TX, with his wife, Kim, and they have two married daughters and two grandchildren. Dr. Wilkes’ hobbies include trail running, hiking, mountaineering, cycling, and golf. He summited 14,410-ft. Mt. Rainier, WA, on his 60^th birthday in 2013.