Wilshire’s new pastoral residents, James Dolph and Bryce Shelton, have moved into their homes on Resident Row and will begin their two-year terms at Wilshire on Monday, Aug. 3.
James Dolph
James (they/them) comes to Wilshire from Wake Forest University School of Divinity, where they completed a Master of Divinity degree in 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 was recently ordained 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 (he/him) completed his Master of Divinity degree this spring at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary. 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 was 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.
As James and Bryce start, Amanda Hines and Jordann McMahan will begin their second year as residents. Annette Thornburg Owen was named director of Pathways to Ministry and will begin Aug. 31.