NEW ORLEANS (BP)–Shannon Baker has joined the staff of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary as director of public relations. Baker will be responsible for coordinating the production of the seminary’s newsletters, alumni magazines, news releases and external public relations efforts in the Southern Baptist Convention, with the other SBC seminaries and in the New Orleans community.
Baker has been working in corporate communications at the Department of Energy’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve in New Orleans, responsible for producing a monthly directorate-level company newsletter, developing public relations initiatives for agency-wide exercises and writing technical presentations/reports.
Baker previously worked for Louisiana’s major oil and gas companies, including Exxon Company, U.S.A. in Baton Rouge as a technical writer and Chevron U.S.A. Production Company in downtown New Orleans as the assistant United Way campaign coordinator.
Although grateful for her corporate experience, Baker said she is thrilled to begin applying what she has learned in her new endeavors at the seminary. “I’ve longed for the opportunity to write for the Lord on full-time basis,” she said.
She has been a volunteer in producing church newsletters, writing and designing ministry curriculum and teaching Bible studies at the churches she has attended. Currently, she volunteers at the Carver Baptist Center in uptown New Orleans.
Before moving to Louisiana with her husband, Larry, to do youth ministry in Zachary, La., Baker was a customer service supervisor for a drug information company, Ask the Pharmacist, working with clients Eli Lilly & Company, and Merck & Company.
Baker holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism with concentrations in public relations and speech communication from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. She recently began working toward a master’s degree in Christian education at NOBTS.
She and her husband are members of Celebration Church, an SBC congregation in New Orleans.
