Hunt Baptist Association

   Jim Gatliff has served at Hunt Baptist Association since June 2008.  He has earned a Ph. D. degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, as well as MDiv. and MA(RE) degrees from Southwestern Seminary where he was Secretary-Treasurer of the Theological Fellowship and a Teaching Fellow in the Evangelism Department.

   He also holds Master of Administrative Studies and Bachelor of Science in Accounting degrees from Southeastern Oklahoma State University, where he was among the inaugural class of Parsons Scholars, the 1981 Oklahoma Intercollegiate CEDA Debate State Champion, the 1982 Oklahoma Intercollegiate CEDA Debate State Runner-Up, the 1983 Oklahoma Intercollegiate Press Association State Champion in Investigative Reporting, the academic top graduate in his class, and served as the Student Body President, Student Senate President, President of the Presidents Club, Editor of The Southeastern campus newspaper, instructor in the Speech and Drama Department, and Assistant Debate Coach.  He is a 1979 graduate of Mustang High School, Mustang, Oklahoma, where he was President of the Student Council, Vice-President of the Student Council, and President of his senior class.  At the age of 21, he was the youngest News Editor of a daily newspaper in Oklahoma at the Hugo Daily News and was later the editor of the Duncanville News-Journal in Texas while in seminary.

    He previously served as Ministry Strategist for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and on the staff of Hunt and Kauf-Van Associations.   He also was the minister of music for two churches and pastor of three churches in Texas, including the First Baptist Church of White Settlement.  He has served as interim pastor or staff member at more than 25 churches.

   As a ministry consultant, he has served over 300 churches and well over 800 individual pastors.  He has also organized or assisted with over 80 new church starts.  He is the author or compiler of several ministry-oriented books, training manuals, and hundreds of other ministry resources for the (SBTC) Ezekiel Project, (SBTC) cowboy church planting, (SBTC) country church planting, the PRIME Church Planting system, the Gateway Project, the Antioch Advance church planting system, the 3M Church Planting Movement Project, the ONE MISSION Missional Resource Program, the SBTC Field Ministry initiative, the COMPASS church development Program, SBTC Empower Evangelism Consultations, the Four Ministry Modes pastor enrichment program, the RISE UP Church Advancement Initiative, SPARKS Church Revitalization Coaching, and the Lighthouse Neighborhood Ministry Project.  His favorite forms of ministry are serving as interim pastor, coaching and encouraging pastors, and leading minister cohorts and discipleship micro-groups for laymen.

   He and his wife, Lynda, have three grown children, Michael, Holly, and Katie, and seven grandchildren.  His is an avid Corvette and Harley-Davidson enthusiast, a guitar collector, and is the co-lead singer, occasional guitarist, and bassist for Southern Harmony band.  In addition to his work for HBA, he currently serves as the President and CEO of both the Hunt Baptist Foundation and HuntNet Ministries, an instructor for the Hunt Baptist Association School of Ministry, and the founding pastor of Redline Church of Greenville, a unique congregation that exists to mobilize members to assist with church restarts, new church starts, and church revitalization projects, and to equip and mobilize members of other churches for member-led missional ministries.

Kaye joined the HBA family  in June 1995. She previously  worked at FBC, Greenville for ten years.   They have two children, Billy and Karen and four grandchildren, Kayelee, Marshall, Jay, and Joah. 

She and her husband attend Highland Terrace Baptist where they are members of the Faithful Servants Sunday School Class. She was saved at the age of eight and baptized at FBC, Caddo Mills.  Her favorite hymn is "Just AS I AM."

Kaye's favorite verse is Joshua 1:9  "Have I not commanded thee?  Be strong and of good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest.

Born in Akron, OH, Joe took his first position as Church Pianist at age 11, and his first job as music director at age 15.  Joe has regularly served the local church ever since.  He has led large choirs and orchestras as well as bands and worship teams.  He is a classically trained pianist, has produced multiple recording projects, written four books and even produced a show in Branson.  He now serves HBA ministering to staff members, providing media support to our churches and leading a series of training sessions entitled KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE A Guide To Leading Worship in the Local Church.  A book and workbook of the same title is due to release in early 2026.

Joe along with his wife Shaunda, also share a powerful message of HOPE through conferences, concerts and speaking engagements.  Born from the loss of their son to cancer in his third year of Bible College, their ministry offers amazing worship, speaking and media to hurting people everywhere, and equally to those who have not yet experienced overwhelming loss. In deepest despair they cried out to God: "do something ABOUT  my pain".  God whispered His answer: "Do something WITH  your pain"... and KNIGHTsong Ministries was born. Want to learn more about Joe's ministry?  Click here.