Warner
FRANKLIN — Trustees of the Tennessee Baptist Foundation have elected Sam Warner as president-treasurer.
He succeeds Bill Gruenewald who announced in February his intention to retire as TBF president on Oct. 31. Gruenewald joined the Foundation in 2011 as executive vice president and served for three years before his election as president in 2014.
The Tennessee Baptist Foundation, organized in 1938, assists individual Tennessee Baptists as well as Tennessee Baptist Convention churches, associations and entities with estate and planned giving to help advance the Great Commission, according to the TBF website.
Warner, a native of Murfreesboro, currently is vice president of development for the Georgia Baptist Convention (GBC) where he has served since 2014. Previously, he served as a senior consultant for Lifeway Stewardship with Lifeway Christian Resources from 2005-2014.
During his tenure with the GBC, the foundation gained $112 million in new gifts/ accounts in nine years and assets under management increased from $348 million in 2015 to $522 million in 2023.
Warner earned two degrees from Union University in Jackson — a bachelor of science in management/marketing and a master of Christian studies.
“We are very excited to welcome Sam Warner as the new president-treasurer of the Tennessee Baptist Foundation,” said Chad Keaton, chair of the board of trustees and a member of Wallace Memorial Baptist Church in Knoxville.
Noting that Warner has 20 years of experience in the non-profit development world, he said the new TBF president “is a man of high integrity and solid character just like our past presidents and we look forward to serving Tennessee Baptists together with him for years to come.”
Gruenewald is excited about his successor. “He brings a wealth of experience in Foundation work and we are excited to have him on our team.”
Warner will join the TBF staff on Aug. 5 and will work with Gruenewald for several months before assuming the role himself. B&R — Lonnie Wilkey
