James Dolph and Bryce Shelton have been chosen as Wilshire’s next class of pastoral residents and will begin their two-year terms in August.
James Dolph
James will receive a Master of Divinity degree from Wake Forest University School of Divinity this May. At Wake, James served on the divinity school’s Student Leadership Council and as president of Kaleidoscope, an LGBTQ+ student organization. They also worked as a graduate assistant for the divinity school’s admissions office and Art of Ministry program.
James is currently engaged in the ordination process at First Baptist Church of Greensboro, North Carolina, where they served as an intern in youth ministry and as acting youth minister.
James, who grew up in Wakefield, Nebraska, majored in philosophy and religion, with a minor in psychology, at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln.
Bryce Shelton
Bryce comes to Wilshire from Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University, where he is set to complete a Master of Divinity degree this spring. He previously attended SMU’s Perkins School of Theology.
While at Truett, Bryce worked as a research assistant for the Center for Church and Community Engagement at Baylor’s Garland School of Social Work and as a graduate library assistant. He also served on the leadership team for Baylor’s Open Table Chapel.
Bryce worked as a part-time facilities staffer and served a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship-funded internship at Waco’s Seventh and James Baptist Church. Since 2025, he has served on the governing board for CBF Texas.
A native of Tulia, Texas, Bryce was licensed and ordained by Tulia’s First Baptist Church, where he served as a pastoral intern. He also served as co-pastor of a Comanche, Texas, church and worked as a funeral home assistant.
Bryce earned a bachelor’s degree in Christian studies and practical theology at Howard Payne University in Brownwood.