Annette Thornburg Owen, a Wilshire pastoral residency alum with experience in local church ministry and theological education, has been named director of Wilshire’s Pathways to Ministry program. She will start Aug. 31.
Senior Pastor Timothy Peoples said, “We were fortunate to have an outstanding group of applicants, and Annette stood out from the very first interview. It is a true joy to welcome her back to Wilshire. Her gifts and vision are tailor-made for our residency program, and I look forward to working alongside her!”
Annette has been a chaplain at TCU’s Brite Divinity School for the last year. She previously worked three years as coordinator for the Baptist House of Studies at SMU’s Perkins School of Theology. From 2017 to 2022, Annette was pastor of Community Baptist Church in Warrenville, Illinois.
“Because the Pathways program was such a formative part of my own ministerial journey,” Annette said, “I’m very excited and deeply honored to be part of it again to help the next generation of leaders discern their call, discover their gifts and find their voice.”
After serving as a Wilshire resident from 2011 to 2013, Annette completed a CPE chaplain residency at Methodist Hospital in Dallas, worked as a hospice chaplain and co-pastored Church in the Cliff.
Originally from Ohio, Annette earned a BA in English and religion at Denison University, served with AmeriCorps in West Virginia and earned a Master of Divinity degree at the University of Chicago Divinity School. She is ordained in the American Baptist tradition.
The Pathways to Ministry Committee worked with Timothy to screen and interview candidates. Committee chair Rick Hibbs said, “In her conversations with the committee, Annette led with empathy and curiosity. She has valuable insight from her time as a resident but no preconceptions for the program. Instead, she shares our values and expectations and our hopes and dreams. We are thrilled for her and for Wilshire as she takes this important position.”
Annette lives in Oak Cliff with her husband, David Owen, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and their son Conrad, who is two.
Annette follows Charlie Fuller, who retired from the Pathways director role in May. A new class of pastoral residents, James Dolph and Bryce Shelton, will begin work Aug. 3.