Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly.
STAFF CHANGES
Eric Black, to Baptist Standard Publishing, as executive director/publisher, effective June 11. He has been pastor of First Baptist Church, Covington, Texas, since 2010.
Justin Blankenship, to Gracewood Community Church, Lebanon, Va., as associate pastor.
Jeff Carter, to Baptist World Alliance, Falls Church, Va., as director of Horizons and Congress mobilization. This new position is part of a partnership with Canadian Baptist Ministries.
Christy Averill Harper, now serving as curator of Hodges Chapel at Beeson Divinity School at Samford University, Birmingham, Ala. She has served as assistant curator and coordinator of Beeson Divinity School alumni relations since 2014.
Chris Hensley, to Covenant Baptist Church, Gastonia, N.C., as pastor. He comes from the pastorate of Drury Dobbins Baptist Church, Ellensboro, N.C.
David Medlin, to Hope Tree Family Services, Salem, Va., as church and community relations coordinator.
Steven Norris, to First Baptist Church, Griffin, Ga., as associate pastor.
LeDayne McLeese Polaski, concluding her tenure as executive director of the Baptist Peace Fellowship in North America, effective in May 2019.
Mike Queen, to Ardmore Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, N.C., as interim pastor.
Travis Russell, to Vinton (Va.) Baptist Church, as pastor. He comes from the pastorate of First Baptist Church, Graham, N.C.
Jonathan Shattuck, to Lambeth Memorial Baptist Church, Roxboro, N.C., as pastor. He comes from the pastorate of Wise Baptist Church, Norlina, N.C.
Jenna Sullivan, to Magnolia Road Baptist Church, Jonesboro, Ark., as associate pastor.
Kelly Zytynski, to First Baptist Church, Beaufort, S.C., as director of children’s ministry, effective this summer.
ORDINATIONS
Joyce Craft, ordained to ministry on April 29 by Mount Welcome Missionary Baptist Church, Decatur, Ga.
Sharon Felton, ordained to ministry on April 22 by Faith Baptist Church, Georgetown, Ky.
Rhody Mastin, ordained to ministry by Fredericksburg (Va.) Baptist Church, on April 22.
Anna Kate Stephenson, ordained to ministry by Northside Drive Baptist Church, Atlanta Ga., on April 29.
DEATHS
Thomas Lee Mattingly, 69, died May 11 in North Vernon, Ind. He was pastor of Graham Baptist Church, Butlerville, Ind. He is survived by his wife, Brenda; daughters, Amanda Vogel, Tracy Dilk and Stacy Turner Alaniz; 10 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Jerold R. McBride, 85, died May 11 in Winnifield, La. He served churches in Oklahoma and Texas for 47 years in ministry. For 31 years he was pastor of First Baptist Church, San Angelo, Texas. He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Hardin-Simmons University and the George W. Truett Distinguished Church Service Award from Baylor University. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Elizabeth. They were the parents of three children: Renee McBride, Charlotte Young and Todd McBride, and two grandchildren. He is survived by his wife, Claudia, and her children, Mike, Mark and Matt Machen, as well as five grandchildren.
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KUDOS
ANNIVERSARIES
Brian Farmer, 30 years as associate pastor/minister of students at First Baptist Church, Salisbury, N.C.
Brian A. Lee, 5 years as pastor of Shades Crest Baptist Church, Birmingham, Ala.
Angela Mahoney, 5 years as children’s minister at First Baptist Church, Salisbury, N.C.
Jim Somerville, 10 years as senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Richmond, Va.
CHURCH ANNIVERSARIES
Talbot Park Baptist Church, Norfolk, Va.; 75 years; May 20.
In case you missed them:
Transitions for the week of 05.11.18
Transitions for the week of 05.03.18
No Transitions for the week of 04.27.18