Jacob Simmons, pastor of Hope Community Church in Birmingham, Alabama, and his wife, Suzanne, a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) educator at UAB Hospital, have been named the 2026 Alumni of the Year.

“It feels like such an honor,” said Suzanne ’08, MDiv ’11. “As much as I loved Beeson, I fully realized as a student and as a graduate that I am not the prototypical Beeson graduate. I didn’t go into church ministry or become a pastor. It speaks to their capacity to see a more expansive view of ministry and what this type of degree can prepare you for very regularly.”

“It’s incredibly humbling,” said Jacob ’06, MDiv, MBA ’09. “It’s evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit that we both have callings and careers we can do together and side by side. I don’t think we could have dreamed this up, so we have to give credit to the Spirit’s work and say He dreamed it up for us. On our own, we would have messed it up.”

The Simmons first met while Jacob was serving as a summer orientation leader in 2004, just before Suzanne’s freshman year. While their paths may have crossed at Beeson, Suzanne said the two had “very different” Beeson experiences.

Jacob came into Beeson knowing he was called to church ministry.

“I had felt a call to ministry at the age of 14,” Jacob said. “I knew coming to Samford I would end up doing seminary after that.”

Jacob enjoyed his studies as a business major and took advantage of the joint MDiv/MBA degree program offered at Samford, which he called a “hidden jewel.”

“It has prepared me very well for pastoring, both the practical business side of things and the pastoral side of things,” Jacob said.

Suzanne knew she was called to ministry but wasn’t sure exactly what it would look like.

“Beeson played a significant role in discerning my call and served as the foundation for my call theologically,” Suzanne said. “It gave me the foundation I needed to go and do ministry in a variety of locations afterward.”

Suzanne also recalled a group of friends who walked with him throughout his Beeson journey, embodying the school’s in-person commitment.

“We studied together, encouraged each other and walked with each other through lots of different milestones,” Suzanne said.

After graduating from Beeson, she served as the associate college minister at nearby Mountain Brook Community Church (MBCC).

While Suzanne was serving at MBCC, Jacob was serving at a church in Chicago. They had been dating and felt the Lord leading them toward marriage, but what wasn’t clear was where they would live.

“We both had a clear call for where we were,” Jacob said. “It was wonderful and exciting, but one of the big questions was how do we discern a call together? With some kicking and screaming to the Lord, we had to hold our ministry calls with an open hand.”

Jacob said they would encourage young couples who feel called both to marriage and ministry to “go back to the Lord and let Him call you together.”

Eventually, they felt the Lord calling them to be in Chicago together, where they both served on staff for about a year and a half before Jacob accepted a call to join the staff at Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Birmingham.

Suzanne felt a calling to pastoral ministry during her time in Chicago, which led her to apply for residency at UAB Hospital. She started the CPE program three months after she and Jacob moved back to Birmingham.

“It almost felt like coming home to my calling,” Suzanne said.

After serving as a bedside chaplain who provides emotional and spiritual support for patients, loved ones and staff, Suzanne is now training others to do that work as a CPE educator. For a year, students train with her and learn how to relate to people in stressful moments.

“Part of my job is to help students understand how they’ve been formed and conditioned to respond in crisis so they can remain a calm presence for others,” Suzanne said. “That’s easier said than done.”

Jacob now serves as pastor of Hope Community Church, a revitalization of McElwain Baptist Church, a historic church in east Birmingham. The revitalization was facilitated by Shades Mountain under former pastor Danny Wood, DMin ’99.

“The Lord had prepared the people of McElwain and humbled them in some really beautiful ways,” Jacob said. “They were willing to hand the keys over to SMBC. We get to stand on a 125-year legacy at that church. I get to have a planter’s brain and a pastor’s heart.”

Serving the Lord together has been a blessing for both Jacob and Suzanne.

“Suzanne has made me such a better pastor,” Jacob said, crediting her chaplaincy skills with helping him minister to his congregation. “While she’s not on staff at the church, she’s right there with me.”

Suzanne said Jacob is a great partner and has affirmed what she couldn’t see in herself.

“That has continued throughout our marriage,” Suzanne said. “He saw the calling, how the Lord had made me and then stepped up to the plate when it required a lot more on the homefront from him. It’s a reflection of his character as a partner. He values my calling as a worthwhile enterprise that needs to be cultivated, and I see the same thing for him.”

Jacob encouraged current students to trust the Holy Spirit’s movement in their lives, “even in the hard seasons.
“He will walk with you every step of the way,” Jacob said.

Suzanne said students who may not know what the next step is can be faithful where they are now.

“Seek out relationships and people you can do ministry with and do ministry wherever you are,” she said.