Meet Our Staff
Joy Yee, Senior Pastor
Joy became Pastor of 19th Ave. Baptist Church when it merged with New Covenant Baptist Church in 2005. A graduate of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Joy received her M.Div. in 1992 and was ordained in 2000. In addition to pastoring Joy has served as Moderator for Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and has been a guest preacher for various events around the country.
A native San Franciscan, Joy's heart resides in local church ministry. Working with the people of God to build authentic community which shares God's love and serves others is a great blessing for her. She also finds deep contentment in serving others as a spiritual director who helps people articulate their experiences with God and respond to Him.
Joy is married to Jimmy Yee and they have two fantastic young adult sons, Nathan and Kevin, who fill their lives with a lot of laughter and perspective. There is also one cat in the family named Misty. The family enjoys getting away to beautiful Monterey, California to eat caramel apples and huge submarine sandwiches every once in a while. A devoted introvert who can enjoy behaving extrovertedly, Joy loves to read books, play the piano, sing, cook large amounts of food, jog and take naps on the couch under her favorite quilt.
Jim Dant, Co-Pastor
For the last forty years, Jim has served as a minister in churches across the Southeastern United States: Kentucky, Georgia, and South Carolina. In addition, he has authored ten books, taught for Mercer University and Columbia Theological Seminary, and led numerous retreats, conferences and consultations across the nation.
Jim has received degrees from Georgia State University, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Columbia Theological Seminary with additional certifications from: The Mercy Center (Group Spiritual Direction and Ignatian Retreat Leadership), Columbia Theological Seminary (Spiritual Formation), and Heartwood Yoga Institute (RYT500 yoga instructor). During these years of education and work, Jim has always sensed a tug - a calling - to the Bay Area.
Jim has served as co-pastor of Nineteenth Avenue Baptist since October 15, 2022. He brings to the Bay Area a love for his family (three grown daughters, one granddaughter, one grandson, and another grand on the way!), a breadth of ministry experience, and a passion for the church. In his spare time, Jim enjoys playing bass guitar, taking long walks, playing tournament poker, watching the birds at his backyard feeders, drinking coffee, and scooting around the streets of San Francisco in his VW Beetle.