Jackson Free Press

Stewpot Community Services named Rev. Jill Barnes Buckley, an associate pastor for community ministry with Northminster Baptist Church in Jackson, as the organization's new executive director on Nov. 30. Buckley will formally assume her new position on Jan. 1. She will be in charge of overseeing Stewpot's staff and services, and organizing fundraisers and other events.

"Stewpot is a strong organization in the community, and I hope to, within the first few months, get to know it again from working there before many years ago," Buckley said. "I'm going to assess what our best practices are and see about getting Stewpot more involved in advocacy so we can help influence public policy on behalf of the people our organization serves. I'd also like to see Stewpot have a stronger social-media presence."

Buckley was born in Hattiesburg, grew up in Sumrall and moved to Clinton when she was 15. She graduated from Clinton High School and then went on to Mississippi State University, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in sociology in 1994. She moved to Jackson after graduation.

She first came to work for Stewpot as its volunteer coordinator in April 1996. She was in charge of bringing institutional organization to the group so it could get more volunteers than was previously possible with the help of smaller groups at local church congregations. Along with organizing volunteers, she also helped with fundraising.

"I first came on with Stewpot because I was looking for meaningful work to do, and a friend of mine named Dorothy Triplett challenged me to put my faith into action," Buckley said. "This time, I've spent many years gaining skills I think could be helpful to Stewpot, and I see this as a way of giving back to an organization that gave a lot to me as an individual and a person of faith. It expanded my world, and being there, meeting people who were homeless or in deep need, helped me see people less as objects and more as subjects. I learned to listen to their stories and how they got to be where they were, and it shook up how I looked at the world and at public policy."

In 2000, Buckley left Stewpot to pursue a divinity degree at the Boston University School of Theology. She graduated with a master of divinity degree in 2003 and joined the staff at Northminster Baptist Church in November 2004.

"After I graduated, I saw that Northminster was trying to build relationships in a community in our city that was in need of help, and I applied there because I had been trained in and was interested in the kind of work they wanted to do," she said. "They were helping to transform a community in need of help into a place that is thriving. That is very much what I want to be part of, making my community a place where it is safe for children to grow up and for people to grow old."

Buckley said that when she learned the position of executive director for Stewpot was available and that she could be help the organization, she put her name into the running because she felt it was the right place for her to be.

She and her husband, Paul, have been married for 10 years and have a 4-year-old son named Benjamin.