Transitions for the week of 06.16.17

Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly.

STAFF CHANGES

Mary L. Apicella, to Providence Baptist Church, Hendersonville, N.C., as pastor, effective Aug. 1. She comes from Federated Church, Brooklyn, Conn., where she serves as pastor.

Ashley Edwards, to May Memorial Baptist Church, Powhatan, Va., as minister to children and youth.

Gary Dalton, concluding his tenure as senior minister in the interim at University Baptist Church, Charlottesville, Va., effective July 14.

Elmo Familiaran, now serving as interim executive minister and senior regional pastor of the American Baptist Churches of New Jersey.

Dale Fields, to First Baptist Church, Charlottesville, Va., as worship pastor.

Bob Hetherington, to Mill Creek Baptist Church, Fincastle, Va., as interim pastor.

Aimee Hobbs, to First Baptist Church, St. Petersburg, Fla., as pastor of children and young families.

Joshua Johnson, to Westbury Baptist Church, Houston, Texas, as contemporary worship leader.

John Kimbrough, to First Baptist Church, Wilmington, N.C., as minister of contemporary worship and young adults. He comes from Central Baptist Church, Bearden, Tenn., where he served as worship assistant.

Michael Mills, to Agape Baptist Church, Fort Worth, Texas, as pastor. He comes from Inland Church in Spokane, Wash., where he was lead pastor and church planter.

William Nieporte, concluding his tenure as pastor of Patterson Avenue Baptist Church, Richmond, Va., at the end of August. The church has voted to disband.

Kenneth Reiter, to First Baptist Church, Cross Plains, Texas, as pastor.

Scott Runyon, to First Baptist Church, Birmingham, Mich., as pastor. He comes from the pastorate of Federated Church of Grass Lake, Mich.

Michael Sowers, to First Baptist Church, Buies Creek, N.C., as pastor.

Greg Webber, concluding his tenure as pastor of Hatcher Memorial Baptist Church, Richmond, Va.

Neil Westbrook, concluding his tenure as pastor of Forest Hills Baptist Church, Raleigh, N.C. He will become an agent with New York Life Insurance.

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RETIREMENTS

Bruce Hancock, retiring after 25 years as pastor of First Baptist Church, Camden, S.C.

Don Miller, retiring after 40 years as executive pastor of First Baptist Church, Mansfield, Texas.

Ed Owens, retiring after33 years as pastor of Olivet Baptist Church, Lansing, Mich.

ORDINATIONS

Lisa Orr, ordained to ministry on June 11 by Snyder Memorial Baptist Church, Fayetteville, N.C.

Kerry Smith, ordained to ministry on June 11 by North Run Baptist Church, Richmond, Va., where he serves as education/youth minister.

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DEATHS

Roy Bell, 91, died May 11 in Duncan, British Columbia, Canada. He was a former principal of Carey Theological College in Vancouver, Canada, and a past vice president of the Baptist World Alliance. He was senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Vancouver, from 1970-1981 and also was pastor of Strathcona Baptist Church in Edmondton and First Baptist Church in Calgary. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; son, Jeremy; and daughters, Jennifer, Gillian, Rosemary and Joanne.

Gene Garrison, 85, died June 9 in Pittsboro, N.C. He was pastor emeritus of First Baptist Church, Oklahoma City, where he served as senior pastor from 1973 to 1996. Before that he was pastor of First Baptist Church, El Paso, Texas. He was integrally involved in the formation of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Oklahoma. He is survived by his wife, Martha; son, Stephen; daughter, Christy; two grandchildren and two great-granddaughters.

Robert H. Hammond, 93, died May 20 in Greenwood, Ind. An ordained minister for 70 years, he was on staff of the Indiana Baptist Convention, a longtime member of Garfield Park Baptist Church, Indianapolis, Ind., and recently a member of First Baptist Church, Greenwood. He is survived by his wife, Lois; daughters, Judy Otto and Yee Yee Kuhn; sons, Phillip and Tim; 11 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and nine step children.

Viola Rae Herta, 96, died May 26 in Owasso, Okla. An American Baptist home missionary, she founded a small Mexican Baptist church in Winslow, Ariz., that grew to become a large Southern Baptist congregation. She and her husband, Joseph, served American Baptist churches in North Dakota and Kansas. She was predeceased by her husband. She is survived by two daughters, Brenda Juby and Marcia Wolgast; three sons, Loren, Stanley and Steven; and 11 grandchildren.