Rev. Wille Demps
1st Vice Moderator
“Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood.” Acts 20:28
Reverend Willie W. Demps was born in Plant City, Florida. He is one of eight children born to the late Deacon James and Deaconess Mable Demps. A graduate of Florida A & M University, Tallahassee, Florida, he spent over 25 years teaching and coaching in the Public School systems of Florida and Washington, D.C. He was awarded Teacher of the Year seven times and Coach of the Year three times.
He is married to First Lady Millicent G. Hatcher Demps, who is a retired Lieutenant Commander from the United States Navy and is currently the Principal of the S. L. Jones Christian Academy. They have three children: Angela, a Lieutenant in the United States Navy, Willie, II, a 2006 graduate of Louisiana State University, and Jonathan, who attends the University of Florida.
Reverend Demps and his family moved to Pensacola 15 years ago from Antigua West Indes. He was ordained to Preach the Gospel at Central Baptist Church, under the leadership of Pastor Hensworth Jonas. He is well seasoned on the Foreign Mission Field and has conducted Evangelistic Crusades in Trinidad, the South Pacific Islands, Australia and others. He credits his “Pastor,” the Reverend Dr. Chester A. McDonald, Sr., and the Maple Springs Baptist Church of Capitol Heights, MD where he was a faithful member and deacon for 10 years, for his solid foundation in the Word of God. God anointed him with the hunger for soul-winning through evangelistic efforts and called him to preach the Gospel in 1988.
Reverend Demps is truly a Born-Again Christian, saved by the precious Blood of Jesus. God has groomed him for many years to serve as Pastor of Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church. His vision from God is to lead Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church into a Holistic Ministry that meets the needs and interests of the entire church body and community. God led him to implement over 38 Inreach and Outreach Ministries during the past 12 years. He gives God all the glory and honor for allowing the church family to purchase property that gave the church ownership of the entire block and additional adjacent property for growth. In September 2000, one of his visions came to fruition when the S. L. Jones Christian Academy was opened. Many members of Mt. Pilgrim have been blessed to be a part of the Academy’s ministry.
Actively involved in the community, he is past president of the First West Florida District Congress of Christian Education, the past president and treasurer of the Baptist Ministers Union, and the third vice president of the Florida General Baptist Convention, and second vice moderator of the First West Florida Baptist District Association. His continued goal is to move the entire church body from Membership to Ministry. His prayer is that he can lead Mount Pilgrim to do “Greater Works” for the upbuilding of God’sKingdom on earth. He strongly believes in Psalm 127:1 - “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it; except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.”
His vision from God is to Move to the Next Level as prescribed by Joshua 1:8: This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth;but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and thou shalt have good success.”
