Leadership

Welcome to our church leadership page! First Baptist Durango is an elder-led church (made up of both staff & lay elders). You will also find our Women’s Care and Discipleship Team and our Non-Elder Ministry Staff below. See our bylaws HERE for further reading on our church governance & leadership.

Elders

Jimmy Thoma – Lead Pastor

I came to faith in college at a large group bible study where I saw my sin and God’s grace in Christ for the first time. By God’s grace through faith I was forgiven of my sin and my identity was found in who Christ is and what He has done for me instead of what I had. Since that time he has done a mighty work in me heal me of sin and grow me in grace. I graduated from Dallas Baptist University with a Bachelors’s degree in business where I also played baseball. After receiving my bachelor’s degree, I attended Redeemer Seminary where I acquired a Master of Arts in Religion. My ministry experience includes time in youth ministry, missions, and church planting. Most recently, I was a pastor at Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, AR. There I was a Discipleship Pastor with oversight of our care and recovery ministries.

Brian Shaffer – Elder Chair

God used a praying mom, a university campus ministry, and a myriad of people and circumstances to draw me to Himself. Some great iron-sharpening brothers in the faith and solid Bible teaching have been influential to help grow my faith and to begin to learn how to enjoy God. FBC has been my church home since shortly after my wife, Kathryn, and I arrived in Durango in 2002. We are blessed with children Aidan, Daniel, Taia, and Johanna. I’ve lived in several different places in the US, but Durango longer than anywhere else. I love the beauty and intentionality of how Christ’s body is comprised of very different parts working, suffering, and rejoicing together under God’s arrangement (1 Cor 12).

Nathan Zick – Elder

I was born and raised in Durango and built a career in excavation and concrete, eventually starting my own company. I married my wife in 1996, adopted her daughter, and together we have been blessed with four grown children and an unofficial foster child. Family and adoption have always been central to our lives. I grew up attending a Lutheran church but drifted away as a young man. After my family began attending First Baptist Durango in 1996, my faith was renewed, and I came to understand more deeply the grace of God and what it meant to personally follow Christ. I publicly professed my faith and was baptized at First Baptist. For nearly thirty years, I have been grateful to call First Baptist home and to serve in many roles, including trustee, deacon, Sunday school teacher, Awana director, camp director, and elder. I deeply love this church and am committed to serving its people with love, prayer, and faithfulness.

Dave Johnson – Elder

My wife, Cathy, and I have attended First Baptist since 2010. We followed our grandchildren to Durango after 27 years in elementary education. God has greatly impacted my life through community and small groups. I look forward to seeing others “grow in Christ” as we participate in community together. We have three children and four grandchildren.

Will Parkins – Associate Pastor

My wife, Cassidy, and I moved to Durango in 2019 to serve in college ministry. In 2020, we launched Reach Durango, a ministry of First Baptist Durango at Fort Lewis College, which we led until the summer of 2026. At that time, we transitioned the ministry to Ben Woods, and I stepped into the role of Associate Pastor at First Baptist Durango. I  am currently pursuing a seminary degree at Tennent School of Theology in Woodland Park, Colorado, and am passionate about seeing Colorado reached with the good news of Jesus Christ. God used the teaching of the Reformers, particularly the truth of Christ’s imputed righteousness, to open my eyes and bring me to faith. Ever since, I have been eager to proclaim God’s grace wherever and whenever I can! I am very thankful for the opportunity to do this vocationally.

Womens Care & Discipleship

Tara Loyd

I was raised in the church and came to faith at a young age. As I have walked with the Lord, He has deepened my understanding of His Grace. He has also deepened my understanding of my own sin. Our Lord is a patient and gentle teacher! I was born and raised in Wyoming and lived in North Dakota after college. Since high school, I have been involved in Camp Ministry, Campus Crusade for Christ and leading Women’s Ministry and Bible Study. My family moved to Durango in 2013 and we love it here! You can find me doing Bible studies, hiking, reading and listening to others tell their faith stories over a cup of coffee. It is my prayer that the women of our church would be united in friendship and discipleship.

Jodie Klumpenhower

I am a Georgia/North Carolina native transplanted to Colorado twenty years ago. I grew up in Southern Churchianity but not really in the gospel and didn’t know anything about a relationship with God. In high school, some visiting college students first shared that He loved me, and then in college I was discipled mostly by being given really good books. Over the years, the words that first came to me are still my center, “I don’t know all the questions but I know Jesus is the answer.” In church I’ve delivered a lot of lasagnes, but my main love is people (me included) going deeper into the knowledge that Jesus loves them. When not working part-time as a mental health therapist for teens and young adults, I love being outdoors, doing art, meeting women for coffee, and hanging out with my husband Jack and our large, anxious Sheepadoodle.

Allison Claassen

At a young age, God drew me to Himself. The Lord continually shows me His goodness and grace through His son and the Spirit.  My family began attending First Baptist Durango in 2014 and I have served as the Women’s BIble Coordinator since 2018.  My passion is to study the Bible, teach God’s truths, and help others grow in their love for God’s word.

Janie Wall

Janie has a heart for God and a heart for people. From Kansas City originally, she says God has always opened doors jobwise every 5 years. Working as a counselor, parent educator, and at the Durango Pregnancy Center, she says “I’m so thankful I’ve had the opportunity to work in many areas: with families, people with special needs, teen moms, college students, and others. I’ve had to pray, to trust, to be open to what God wants me to do, even when I’m uncomfortable and God’s opening doors out of my comfort zone.”) Here at First B, God has pulled her out of her comfort zone and opened doors as she’s led women’s Bible studies, gone on Nicaragua missions trips, served on the Hospitality team, and volunteered with Christian Challenge college ministry.

Emily Lee

Photo & Description coming soon.

Jenna Brandon

At age 19 I understood the Gospel for the first time. My entire life I had been told that Christ died for my sins but I was also taught that salvation was slippery, easy to lose, and had to be earned by works. Then, one night many years ago, a close friend of mine told me exactly what grace was – freely receiving from God what we don’t deserve and can never earn. Astonishingly I had never been taught this before and that night I prayed to God & confessed that I was unable to follow all of the rules perfectly and that if abiding by the laws laid out in the Bible was what earned heaven, I could never do it. This was a terrifying moment, but it was the first time I truly trusted God to save me because I realized that I couldn’t do the saving myself. Now, fast forward a few years, I arrived at First Baptist Durango (FBD) with my husband and we got plugged in and began serving. We found ourselves drawn to our respective passions in ministry; my husband to worshipping with the band, and myself to working with young people and teaching them the Word of God. It wasn’t long after that I was hired as a Youth Staff Co-lead. It has been such a joy for us to serve in these respective areas and we hope to continue serving and loving our local church.

Ministry Staff (Non-ELder)

Devona Moore – Office Admin & Children’s

Devona Moore serves as the Children’s Ministry Director & Office Administrator here at the church. Raised in Durango within a Christian family, she attended First Baptist from age 5 until marrying Douglas Moore at 18. At 33, God’s love and grace transformed her life. Devona’s passion is for children to know the Lord and grow as disciples. Besides her ministry, she enjoys paddle-boarding, water fights, time with grandchildren, and sharing Christ’s love. Devona, married for years, is a mother of 5 and a grandmother of 4. Her life reflects a commitment to family, faith, and spreading the love of Christ to those around her.

Grant Bradow – Youth Intern

Bio Pending

Evelyn Kelley – Communications Intern

Bio & Photo Pending

Cassidy Parkins – Financial Admin

Bio & Photo Pending