After law school, Walker eventually became a partner in the law firm of
Carlton Fields in
Tampa, Florida. Walker left the firm in 1986 to enter Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville where he earned a Master of Divinity degree and was named the most outstanding graduate. He pastored the Richland Baptist Church in Falmouth, Kentucky, before coming to the
Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC). Walker first served the BJC as its associate general counsel from 1989 to 1993, and then as general counsel from 1993 to 1999. In 1999—upon the retirement of James Dunn—Walker was named executive director of the organization, whose mission is "to defend and extend God-given religious liberty for all, furthering the Baptist heritage that champions the principle that religion must be freely exercised, neither advanced nor inhibited by government." Walker retired from the BJC on Dec. 31, 2016, and was succeeded by Amanda Tyler. After retirement, Walker served as Interim President of the John Leland Center for Theological Studies until the end of 2018. Walker routinely speaks in churches and denominational gatherings. He has been published widely and routinely provides commentary on church-state issues in the national media. He has been quoted by numerous national publications and has appeared on CNN's Talk Back Live, NBC's "Today" show, MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews," Fox Morning News, Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor," and National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered." ==Awards==