REV. DR. GENETTA Y. HATCHER

Since the early days of her ministry, Rev. Dr. Genetta Y. Hatcher has been given the name, "Preacher in Blue Jeans.” She loves blue jeans but more importantly, she believes that if Jesus was walking the earth today, He would be in a pair of jeans because we wear blue jeans. It’s not about a desecration of the sacred but a holy boldness to meet people right where they are. Blue jeans and a Bible. This is Pastor Hatcher.

Her guiding scripture is John 21:15-17 in which The Lord commissions Peter to feed His sheep. As The Lord would ordain it, her first sermon was from this same text and if it’s true that a preacher only ever preaches “one” sermon, then surely this is hers: “Feed my sheep”. 

Pastor Hatcher’s greatest passion is nurturing and encouraging God’s people into a Christ-centered wholeness. In this vein, one could find her running around with the children until she is too tired to move, having a meal with the elderly eagerly gleaning their wisdom or getting in the face of some young adult interrogating them until she’s caught up with their life. But mostly she does it by preaching, teaching, serving and being present in the lives of those that she is called to, those both within and outside of the church walls. 

Pastor Hatcher lovingly and faithfully served the Third New Hope Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan for close to 40 years in numerous leadership/servant roles. One of the proudest moments was the ten years that she spent serving as the Campus Pastor of the West location. It was at Third New Hope under the pastorate of Rev. Dr. E. L. Branch (now Pastor Emeritus) where she was licensed and ordained as a minister of the Gospel. She remains grateful for her time at Third New Hope Baptist Church.

Having a servant’s heart has placed Pastor Hatcher at the table of several local and national ministry initiatives, committees, and boards. She is the Board Vice-Chair for WomanPreach!.

It must be made perfectly clear that Pastor Hatcher graduated from the amazing Cass Technical High School in Detroit. From there she would go on to earn a BA from Spring Arbor University (Spring Arbor, MI) with a focus on Management and Organizational Development. She earned both a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degree from Ecumenical Theological Seminary.  

Pastor Hatcher is the proud founding pastor of “The Room Church”, a wonderful diverse group of believers that are faithful to God and devoted to the Kingdom work of making room for everyone. The Room Church “officially” launched on September 12, 2021, and since then has seen The Hand of The Lord move exponentially. Most recently they were blessed to purchase their first worship space (church) after just 2.5 years. It’s all God!

“Our life with God moves in seasons but tells one story” …

This is just a piece of Pastor Hatcher’s story. The rest is still unfolding.