Pennington-Russell received a Bachelor of Arts in Communicative Disorders from the University of Central Florida in Orlando in 1981, and an Master of Divinity from the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, California, in 1985.
She currently serves as senior pastor at the First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, Doctorate. C. Her ministry has provoked controversy due to disagreements concerning women in church leadership. She was then pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Waco, Texas (1998-2007), before being called as lead pastor of the First Baptist Church of Decatur, Georgia (2007-2015). Julie Pennington-Russell began her current pastorate at The First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, District of Columbia in January, 2016.
Her messages have been featured on the television broadcast 30 Good Minutes, Day1 Radio and at the Festival of Homiletics.
She has been married since 1988 to Tim Pennington-Russell, a website designer and musician. They have two adult children, Taylor and Lucy.
Her first position at Nineteenth Avenue Baptist Church in San Francisco prompted repeated attempts to have the church removed from the state Baptist Convention. In 1998, her second pastorate at Calvary Baptist Church (Waco, Texas) made her the first woman to serve as senior pastor of a Southern Baptist congregation in Texas.
Her move to First Baptist Church of Decatur in 2007 provoked further controversy and media coverage.
The issues leading up to the expulsion were strongly criticized by Southern Baptist pastor Wade Burleson.
She currently serves as a member of the advisory board for the religion department of Carson-Newman University and has served as a trustee for Mercer University, member of the board for the Center for Christian Music Studies at Baylor University, and member of the board of directors for the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good. This was widely reported in the press, and members of an unrelated Independent Fundamental Baptist church picketed the church in protest.
