Derrick Hammond, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, is the pastor of Oak Valley Baptist Church in Oak Ridge. Prior to becoming pastor, he served as Church Business Administrator for First Mount Zion Baptist Church in Dumfries, Virginia.
In this role, he functioned as the senior operations manager for a 4,500-member church with oversight of an annual budget of about $6 million and responsibility for all aspects of risk management, food service, fitness center operations, safety, security, human resources, information technology, document retention, fleet management and volunteer mobilization. Prior to that, Derrick served as Church Business Administrator for First Calvary Baptist Church in Durham, NC, where he secured a $6 million construction loan during the 2008 recession and coordinated the $8 million subsequent project that established a new church campus in the low-income neighborhood.
Derrick holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Auburn University. He also completed the dual master's degree program at Samford University in 2006, earning a Master of Divinity and a Master of Business Administration. His technical experience includes two years with Mead Coated Board as a process engineer co-op and eight years of military experience with the U.S. Army Chemical Corps as a Chemical Operations Specialist, receiving an honorable discharge from the Army Reserves in 1999.
In addition to his pastoral duties, Derrick is heavily involved in local and surrounding community affairs. He is a 2015 graduate of both Leadership Oak Ridge and the Citizen's Police Academy. He is also an active board member of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation, Emory Valley Center, and United Way of Anderson County. Additionally, he is a member of the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club and East Tennessee Economic Council. Outside of Oak Ridge, Derrick serves as the Finance Commissioner for the Knoxville Baptist District Association, an adjunct professor for Tennessee Technical University, teaching Personal and Professional Ethics and Organizational Behavior, and a member of the Beeson Divinity School Alumni Advisory Board in Birmingham, Al.
Derrick and Davyda, his wife of almost nineteen years, moved to Oak Ridge in August of 2014 when he accepted his call to the pastorate. He has two children, Ruth, who is a 2018 graduate of Oak Ridge High School and Alexis, who is a rising senior. Both young ladies have served as members of the Youth Advisory Board of Oak Ridge.
Term Expires: November 2024
