Biographical Info

On April 13, 1998, Dr. M. Clay Warf began a new ministry career when he became the fourth president of the North Carolina Baptist Foundation. After serving nearly 30 years as a pastor in Durham and Roxboro, Clay, as he likes to be called, now serves some 1.2 million Baptists as the head of the oldest Baptist Foundation in the United States.

Growing up in Reidsville, Clay attended Gardner-Webb Junior College and Wake Forest University where he graduated in 1967 with a B.A. in religion.  He received a master of divinity degree in 1971 from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and doctor of ministry degree in 1984 from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.  He has done clinical pastoral education at North Carolina Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem.

For 21 years, beginning in 1971, Clay served Temple Baptist Church in Durham, first as associate minister and then as senior minister.  From January 1993 to April 1998, he served as senior minister at Roxboro Baptist Church.

Active in denominational life, Clay has served in many capacities in the Yates Baptist Association and the Beulah Baptist Association. In the Baptist State Convention, he served as a member of the General Board, the Resolutions Committee, and the World Hunger Task Force.

For fun, he enjoys jogging and traveling, both internationally and to national park sites in the United States.  He also published a CD called “All From Clay,” a collection of ballads from his life experiences.

Clay is married to Sherry Jones.  They have three children and seven grandchildren.