TRANSITIONS
ON THE MOVE
Kevin Wirt, to Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Troutville, Va., as pastor.
Chuck Marshburn, to Tidewater Korean Church, Virginia Beach, Va., as English-speaking pastor.
Robert Carpenter, resigning as pastor of Talbot Park Baptist Church, Norfolk.
Don Harvey, to Peakland Baptist Church, Lynchburg, Va., as interim pastor.
Bob Lewis, to May Memorial Baptist Church, Powhatan, Va., as interim pastor.
Joao Correa da Rocha, resigning as interim pastor of the Brazilian Mission of Second Baptist Church, Richmond, Va., to become chaplain at the Immigration Centers of America in Farmville, Va.
Tom Lynch, to McLean Baptist Church, McLean, Va., as minister for children and youth.
Tony Wheeler, to Fort Lee Baptist Church, Richmond, Va., as minister to children and youth.
Jojuan White, to Wallers Baptist Church, Partlow, Va., as associate pastor.
Jennifer Pollard, resigning as children’s ministry coordinator, Jackson Memorial Baptist Church, Chesapeake, Va., to deploy to Japan for military service.
Jay Ezelle, to Green Ridge Baptist Church, Roanoke, Va., as interim student/collegiate director.
Todd Hoglund, joining the staff of Rivermont Avenue Baptist Church, Lynchburg, Va., as director of its early learning center.
Barbie Fischer, now serving as gallery coordinator at Convergence, Alexandria, Va.
Wesley R. Garrett, joining the staff of Richmond (Va.) Baptist Association as community missionary at the South Richmond Baptist Center.
Katie Gaffner, resigning as minister of youth at Ringgold Church, Ringgold, Va.
RETIREMENTS
Tom Johnson is retiring as pastor of Plymouth Haven Baptist Church, Alexandria, Va, effective July 3.
Mark Pullen has retired as pastor of Bayside Baptist Church, Virginia Beach, Va.
DEATH
Christopher C. Rackley, Virginia Baptist minister for over 40 years, died June 6. He served churches in Surry, Mine Run, Partlow, Amherst and Prince William. At the time of his death he was pastor of Elko Union Baptist Church in Sandston, Va. He is survived by his wife, Susan Buchannan Rackley; a daughter, Jennifer B. Rackley; son James Christopher Rackley; mother, Florence (Peggy) Seig; a sister; and four brothers. A celebration of life service was held June 11.
EVENTS
SUN, JUNE 26
Ruckersville Baptist Church, Ruckersville, Va., will celebrate homecoming. Revival services will follow Sunday through Wednesday evenings with Danny Reicher as evangelist.
The Maranatha Touring Choir, based in Fredericksburg, Va., and comprised of high school and college-age young people, will perform at Salem Baptist Church, Sparta, Va., at 6:30 p.m.
Stockton Memorial Baptist Church, Chesterfield, Va., will host a concert by the music group, Forgiven, at 6 p.m.
SUN, JULY 10
Cool Spring Baptist Church, Mechanicsville, Va., will host Soul’d Out in concert at its 8:30, 10:00 and 11:15 services. Soul’d Out is an all-male quartet with a full-time ministry touring 25 states each year. The group appeals to all ages.
James Square Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, Va., will celebrate homecoming. Revival services will be held July 10-13 with Frank Duncan as evangelist.
FRI-SAT, AUG 19-20
First Things First Richmond will host Gary Chapman, author of the Five Love Languages, for “The Marriage You’ve Always Wanted” conference at West End Assembly of God, Richmond, Va. For tickets, visit www.firstthingsrichmond.org.
News
first Baptist Church, Newport News, Va.
|
First Baptist Church of Newport News, Va., presented a “Festival of Praise” on May 22 directed by Dennis Adams, minister of music. The festival included the church’s 13 vocal and instrumental music groups, composed of children to senior adults, to an audience of 750.
The International Community Church was received into membership in the Richmond Baptist Association. This congregation is led by Minh Ha Nguyen and Samuel Nunon and meets at Monument Heights Baptist Church, Richmond, Va. Ten ICC house groups meet weekly with a mission of reaching the more than 70,000 refugees in the Richmond area.
On Mission
The food pantry at Gayton Baptist Church, Richmond, Va., has been approved as a partner with the Central Virginia Food Bank, making them part of the national organization Feeding America.
The fourth anniversary of Broken Loaves, the food ministry at Central Baptist Church in Richmond, Va., was celebrated on June 12. More than 2,000 families have been helped in their time of need through the ministry of Broken Loaves.
The Seekers Class of Calvary Baptist Church in Winchester, Va., recently mailed 15,167 stamps to the Alliance Stamp Ministry, bringing the total stamps they have collected to 281,770. ALS sells the stamps to collectors and all proceeds go to mission work in Central and South America.
 |
 |
The Letter Carrier’s food drive by the U. S. Postal Service, held the second Saturday in May of each year, is the largest food drive in the nation. This year 70.6 million pounds of food was donated across America. Nineteen college students and adults from Rosalind Hills Baptist Church in Roanoke, Va., spent an afternoon unloading and sorting several thousands of pounds of food to go to Feeding America Southwest Virginia. Thanks to the help of Rosalind Hills volunteers, its food pantry will receive 500 pounds of free food as well as be able to purchase food at a greatly reduced cost. Pictured at right are church members sorting items on the day of the postal food drive.
Kudos
Christopher McMahon, a member of Kentwood Heights Baptist Church, Quinton, Va., was the 2011 recipient of the W. Paul Hepler Scholarship awarded by Dover Baptist Association. He will attend Liberty University in the fall.
Caleb Bittler, minister of youth and children at Buchanan Baptist Church, Buchanan, Va., and Danny Quirin, minister of youth at Bonsack Baptist Church, Roanoke, Va., recently received a diploma in theology from the Christian Leadership Network.
County Line Baptist Church, Java, Va.
|
County Line Baptist Church in Java, Va., celebrated its 240th anniversary May 22. In attendance were former pastors John Campbell, Joey Cantrell, Sally Grant Greenstock (representing her deceased father John Grant), Latta Terry and Henry Langford. Pictured at right is current pastor Eddie Collins, greeting Langford who served County Line as pastor from 1950-1959.
Jonathan Hilliard, pastor of First Baptist Church, Gretna, Va., and William Orde, bivocational minister in Roanoke, Va., received graduate certificates in theology from the Christian Leadership Network.
Brenda Faison, director of Christian education and missions at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Alexandria, Va., received a master in Christian education degree from Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond in May.
Two Richmond, Va.-area, students are recipients of the 2011 Lakewood Manor Employee Scholarships. Jay Laiche of Godwin High School will attend Virginia Tech and Tyler Redshaw of Tucker High School will attend the University of Virginia. Each year, Lakewood Manor — a facility of Virginia Baptist Homes — awards two scholarships to staff members or their children.
The Culpeper Baptist Retirement Community has received bequests from two recently deceased Virginia Baptists. Elizabeth W. Channel was a member of First Baptist Church in Alexandria, Va., and Floyd W. Smith was a member of McCabe Memorial Baptist Church in Martinsville, Va.
ORDINATIONS
Dane Jackson, minister of youth and students at Mechanicsville Baptist Church, Mechanicsville, Va., was ordained to the ministry by the church on June 11.
Betty Burnell, director of music ministries at Westhaven Baptist Church, Portsmouth, Va., was recently ordained to the ministry by the church.
Matthew Tuck, youth minister of Friendship Baptist Church, Chesterfield, was ordained to the ministry by the church on June 19.
GOT NEWS? Send information for this page to heraldbeat editor Barbara Francis at [email protected]. Even better — add us to your church newsletter’s e-mail list, send us a link to your online newsletter page or mail the newsletter to us at 2828 Emerywood Parkway, Richmond, VA 23294.