The Rev. Derrick M. Hammond, pastor of Oak Valley Baptist Church, is a native of Birmingham, AL. He holds a BS in chemical engineering from Auburn University, where he was initiated into Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and served eight years in the US Army Reserves as a chemical operations specialist. In his senior year at Auburn, he acknowledged his call into the preaching ministry and returned to Birmingham to serve as a youth pastor upon graduation. He later completed the dual master’s degree program at Samford University, earning master of divinity and master of business administration degrees in 2006.

Pastor Hammond’s prior ministry positions include serving as a church business administrator for seven years at First Mount Zion Baptist Church in Dumfries, VA, and at First Calvary Baptist Church in Durham, NC. While working as a church administrator, Rev. Hammond published work with the National Baptist Convention, the African American Pulpit, Our Daily Bread, and the Union Gospel Press. In 2013, he received national accreditation as a certified church administrator (CCA) by the National Association of Church Business Administration and, in 2017, he received the Postma Young Professional Award from the East Tennessee Economic Council. In the summer of 2019, he served as a Scholar in Residence at the Kettering Foundation in Dayton, OH.

As an elected member of the Oak Ridge City Council, Pastor Hammond is heavily involved in local and surrounding community affairs. He is a graduate of Leadership Oak Ridge and serves on the Advocacy Committee of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce Board. He is also an active member of the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation Board, Methodist Medical Center Board, United Way of Anderson County Board, Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club, East Tennessee Economic Council, Beeson Divinity School Alumni Advisory Board, and the local chapter of the NAACP. Additionally, Pastor Hammond serves as finance commissioner for the Knoxville District Baptist Association and an adjunct instructor for Tennessee Technical University and Pellissippi State Community College. 

Pastor Hammond and his wife, Dr. Davyda Hammond, moved to Oak Ridge, TN, in August of 2014 when he accepted his call to the pastorate. The Hammonds are proud parents of two children, Ruth, a student at Rose Hulman University in Indiana, and Alexis, a student at Auburn University.