Pastor David M. Fryson and Lady Joy M. Fryson

Pastor David M. Fryson, Esq. and First Lady Joy M. Fryson are Senior Pastor Elect and First Lady Elect of the New First Missionary Baptist Church of Kanawha City. They have been married for almost 43 years and they both graduated from Dunbar High School in Dunbar West Virginia and attended West Virginia State University. Family is second only to God in the Fryson family and they have a diverse, loving family. They have been blessed with three wonderful children and two daughter-in-laws; David, Jr. (Tonya Mata), Aaron (Orn Sawangphol) and Kristina as well as four grandchildren; Aaron Allen, Jr., Aidan Allen, Elijah David and Malaya Joy. 

Pastor Fryson, with the support of Lady Joy, has served as an Elder and Pastor for over 35 years in a variety of ministry contexts. From 2007 to 2010, he served as the Chief Ministry Officer for the House of the Lord, a progressive, diverse church with a total membership of over six thousand in Akron, Ohio. As Chief Ministry Officer Pastor Fryson had oversight over all the more than thirty (30) ministries of the church, the nine (9) pastors and over 300 ministers, deacons and church leaders who served the congregation.  In addition, he was President and CEO of the Beth-El Fellowship of Visionary Churches in Ohio, a consortium of over forty churches under the Bishopric of F. Josephus Johnson. He has also served as an Associate Pastor for Christian Love Ministries in Fairmont, WV, an honorary church Father and Elder of Morgantown Redeemed Christian Church of God a Nigerian Based church, as an Elder and Head Elder in the Charleston Boulevard and Berea Seventh Day Adventist Church respectively, and has served as a Supply Pastor for the historic Morgantown First Presbyterian Church and the First Baptist Church of Vandalia in Charleston, WV.

Pastor Fryson has received multiple ordinations and is a current candidate for ordination from the West Virginia State Baptist Convention Mount Olivet District as he assumes the pastorate of the New First Missionary Baptist Church of Kanawha City.

Pastor Fryson is also an Attorney at Law and practiced law in a variety of legal settings for almost 30 years. Lady Joy has been an office manager and administrative assistant for over 35 years also in a variety of settings. She has been the Office Manager for Fryson Law Offices, the Office Manager for the West Virginia State University Research Office and the Student Affairs/Career Services Offices at the West Virginia University College of Law.

Pastor Fryson was the proprietor and sole practitioner with Lady Joy as the office manager for Fryson Law Offices for many years. He served as a staff attorney for the Honorable Randolph Baxter, Chief Bankruptcy Judge of the Northern District of Ohio in Cleveland and as a Senior Attorney for the West Virginia Worker’s Compensation Commission and The Office of the West Virginia Insurance Commissioner.

As a Diversity Professional, Pastor last served as the Senior Advisor to the West Virginia University (WVU) President E. Gordon Gee for Diversity Community Outreach. He previously served as the founding Vice President for the WVU’s Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and earlier served as the Deputy General Counsel for WVU. He also was the City Attorney for the City of South Charleston and the City of Dunbar. Before becoming an attorney, he was on the Governor's Economic Development staff for two West Virginia governors. 

Pastor received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education from West Virginia State College (now University) and was awarded the Doctorate of Jurisprudence from West Virginia University College of Law.

Pastor/Attorney Fryson and Lady Joy have spent their lives dealing with the issues of diversity and inclusion. They have been involved with the Charleston Job Corps Centers, the State and local NAACP and the Opportunities Industrialization Centers (OIC) of America. In 2001, Pastor Fryson served a term as National Vice-President for the legendary Rev. Dr. Leon Sullivan's OIC of America establishing a national office in Washington DC.

He is the recipient of numerous state and national awards and commendations. In 2014, he was recognized as a West Virginia Bar Fellow which is awarded to lawyers whose professional, public and private careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the welfare of their communities and honorable service to the legal profession. Fryson also received the 2015 Certificate of Recognition from the West Virginia Governor’s Office and the WV Human Rights Commission for “Extraordinary service to the citizens of West Virginia in the battle for absolute equality and civil rights for all.”  In 2016 he received a National Role Model Award from Minority Access, Incorporated in Washington DC to name a few of his accolades.

Pastor Fryson and Lady Joy Fryson assumed the role of Pastor Elect and First Lady Elect of the New First Missionary Baptist Church of Kanawha City in December 2019, and have immediately been about building the membership and relationships of the New First Baptist Church. They invite all to come and participate in the authentic worship experiences at New First Baptist Church of Kanawha City.