When the Bermuda Conference’s nominating committee put William “DeJaun” Tull’s name forward to become president, the pastor felt calm.

“I really feel that God called me to this position,” he said. “I was open to whatever his will was.”

The 45-year-old Bermudian was elected on September 27.

He was raised in the church, but as a child dreamt of playing American football for the Dallas Cowboys.

When he went to a careers day at the Bermuda Institute dressed in an Emmitt Smith jersey and Dallas Cowboys helmet, his science teacher, Stanley James, gently reminded him that God was calling him to become a minister.

“My response was, ‘Hey, not me’,” Mr Tull said.

Today, Dr James is his assistant pastor at the Hamilton Seventh-day Adventist church.

Mr Tull remembered how, on Bermuda Institute Day at school, certain students would be invited to preach. He was asked several times but refused.

Then a close friend was involved in a serious cycle crash.

“I was 15 or 16,” he said. “My friend was fighting for his life.”

His friend survived but it showed him the true fragility of life.

“It made me reflect more on my personal life,” he said.

The next time BI Day rolled around, he accepted the invitation to preach, if only to get people off his back.

Mr Tull had a manuscript prepared for the big day, but when he took to the pulpit he found himself telling the entire congregation that he felt called to the ministry.

“It just came out of my mouth,” he said. “I had an impression that God was actually speaking to me.”

But his path to the pulpit was not a straight one.

“I know for sure it was a call because I actually tried to run away,” he said.

After graduating from BI in 2000, he went to Oakwood College (now Oakwood University) in Huntsville, Alabama, to study psychology.

He had what he calls a “conversion” experience.

“I was reading the scriptures to understand the gospel for myself and not because I had to learn it for class or because my mother and father told me,” he said. “I was really understanding Jesus Christ for myself.”

Faith had felt theoretical until then.

“I went through Sabbath school when I was younger and I knew a lot about the Bible, but the conviction was not there,” he said.

Reading scripture and a book called The Patriarchs and Prophets brought the experience home.

“The gospel came to life,” Mr Tull said.

He graduated from Oakwood with a degree in theology and went on to earn a Master of Divinity at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan.

In 2008, he became the assistant pastor of the Hamilton SDA Church, then served in Sandys before becoming the executive secretary of the Bermuda Conference. He held the role for 12 years.

He has spent his first weeks as president of the Bermuda Conference listening to pastors, church leaders and congregations and thinking about how the church can serve a changing community.

“The world is changing so fast,” he said. “There is new legislation that means we cannot do things the way they did them before. We are looking at how we are going to do things in a climate of compliance and the Personal Information Protection Act.

“We now live in a world where we have to protect people’s privacy. We are looking at how the church and a family-oriented ministry adapts to these types of restrictions.”

Another concern is the age dynamics of the church.

“We are looking at how we involve young people in the ministry,” he said. “They are not just the future, but the present. Churches everywhere are facing the challenge of how to galvanise young people to stay involved.”

Mr Tull said some SDA churches in Bermuda have a senior population and challenges keeping young people involved.

“We have big vision,” he said. “There are many things we want to do, but do we have the finances to bring the church up to the level that we know it can be.”

Now, one of his challenges is balancing his new role as president with being a pastor.

Mr Tull wants the world to know that he is a person who loves God.

“I love His people,” the minister said. “I really want to see as many people as possible saved into to the kingdom of God. I would like them to be comforted, hopeful and know that there is peace, even in the midst of a storm. I am someone who definitely cares for the people of Bermuda.”

“I must admit, I would like to be a little bit more balanced because, of course, this job can be demanding. I’ve been serving in office as administrator and a pastor for the last 12 years, so that’s almost like having two jobs in one.”

He added that the work was very demanding and any hobbies have taken a back seat to it.

He and wife LaToya have three children: Yasmin, Sariah and Josiah.