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Transitions
ON THE MOVE
David Klinedinst, to Spurgeon Memorial Baptist Church, Norfolk, Va., as pastor.
Don Gordon, to Ardmore Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, N.C., as pastor. He was previously pastor of Yates Baptist Church, Durham, N.C.
Bob Albritton, resigning as pastor of Vienna (Va.) Baptist Church.
Al Hodges, to Bethlehem Baptist Church, Midlothian Turnpike, Richmond, Va., as interim pastor.
Paula Moutsos, to Streams of Hope Church, Olney, Md., as full-time associate pastor.
Jerusha Moses, to Chamberlayne Baptist Church, Richmond, Va., as associate pastor of family ministries.
John O’Neil, to Rosalind Hills Baptist Church, Roanoke, Va., as minister to youth.
Trae Setzer, resigning as music director at First Baptist Church, Carolina Beach, N.C.
Jeremy Smith, to Berea Baptist Church, Rockville, Va., as associate pastor for family ministry.
Drew Hunsley, resigning as youth and children’s pastor at Oakland Baptist Church, Roanoke, Va.
Tom Baynham, to Beale Memorial Baptist Church, Tappahannock, Va., as interim minister of music.
RETIREMENT
Jack Mays, retiring as minister of music and youth at Berea Baptist Church, Rockville, Va., after 25 years of service.
DEATHS
Retired Virginia Baptist pastor James R. Copeland died Nov. 5 in Richmond at the age of 91. He began his ministry in 1947 as minister of music at Ginter Park Baptist Church, Richmond, Va. During his 13 years there he served as director of religious education and associate pastor. He was instrumental in the starting of Stukeley Hall and Trinity Baptist churches in Richmond. In 1960 he accepted the pastorate of Flagler St. Baptist Church in Miami. He returned to Virginia in 1967 when he was called as pastor of Derbyshire Baptist Church where under his leadership Cambridge and Gayton Baptist churches were constituted and a Cambodian ministry was established. He served as moderator of the Richmond Baptist Association and as a member of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board. In retirement Copeland served as interim pastor for six churches. He is survived by his wife, Hattie P. Copeland; three sons, Robert E., Robert L., and James N. Copeland; and 10 grandchildren. A celebration of life service was held Nov. 9 at Derbyshire Baptist Church in Richmond.
Philip Ray Hart, professor emeritus of religion at the University of Richmond, died Nov. 3. He joined the university as professor in 1956 and retired as professor emeritus after a teaching career of 35 years. He was a recognized scholar at Oxford University, visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity School and visiting professor at the University of Durham, England. For many years he served churches throughout Virginia in preaching and interim pastorate positions. Hart is survived by his wife, Jean Padgett Hart; two sons, John Philip and Stephen Anson Hart; and four grandchildren. A graveside service was held Nov. 9 at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.
Retired Baptist minister Wayne Ernest Varner of Richmond died Oct. 26 at the age of 79. He served numerous churches in several states over a 40-year ministry, including Fairmount Memorial Baptist Church in Richmond, Va., and Corrottoman Baptist Church in Lancaster, Va. He is survived by his wife, Violet Cave Varner. A graveside service was held on Nov. 1 at Hillcrest Cemetery in Louisa, Va.
Kudos
ORDINATIONS
Amy Brown, associate pastor of youth and education at First Baptist Church, Drexel, N.C., ordained to the ministry by First Baptist Church, Shelby, N.C., on Nov. 18.
Kristin Long Francisco, ordained to the ministry by Huguenot Road Baptist Church, Richmond, Va., on Nov. 18.
Mat Treppel, ordained to the gospel ministry by First Baptist Church, Carolina Beach, N.C., on Nov. 11.
40 YEARS
Linda Johnston, celebrating 40 years in the music ministry at Pine Street Baptist Church, Richmond, Va. She currently serves as minister of music.
25 YEARS
Dewey L. Felts, celebrating 25 years as pastor of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, Hillsville, Va.
10 YEARS
Louis Beckwith Jr., celebrating 10 years as pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Lynchburg, Va.
Ben Wagener, celebrating 10 years as pastor for spiritual formation at Vienna (Va.) Baptist Church.
5 YEARS
Steve Gupton, celebrating 5 years as pastor of First Baptist Church, Virginia Beach, Va.
Events
FRI, NOV. 30
Dreams Works, a Washington-based organization which aims to provide life-building skills for youth through the arts, and the United Way of the National Capital Area are hosting a workshop for middle and high school youth on teen dating violence. “Uncomfortable Conversations” centers around a collection of four short plays, followed by a panel discussion. The event will be from 7:30-9:30 p.m. at Community of Hope A.M.E. Church in Temple Hills, Md. For more information, go to http://www.unitedwaynca.org/page/s/uncomfortable-conversations-registration.
SUN., DEC. 2
Vienna (Va.) Baptist Church; concert by the University Chorale and the Women’s Chorale from George Mason University at 5 p.m. This concert of sounds of the season will feature student conductors and composers.
SAT., DEC. 8
Bethel Baptist Church, Midlothian, Va.; concert by Jubilation Choir at 2 p.m. Composed of 65 voices from 23 churches of nine different denominations from Midlothian and the surrounding community, the choir is sponsored by Salisbury Presbyterian Church.
Christmas Music & Drama
THURS.-SUN., NOV. 29-DEC. 2
Snyder Memorial Baptist Church, Fayetteville, N.C.; “Singing Christmas Tree” on Thursday and Friday at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m.; tickets available by contacting church.
SUN., DEC. 2
Old Powhatan Baptist Church, Powhatan, Va.; Christmas concert with Ross King; banquet at 5:30 p.m.; concert at 7 p.m. tickets available at www.powhatanbaptist.org.
THURS.-SUN., DEC. 6-9
First Baptist Church, Alexandria, Va.,; Living Christmas Tree with more than 100 singers and 50,000 lights; Thursday and Friday at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday at 2:30, 5:00 and 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday at 2:30 and 5:00 p.m. Tickets $7, available online at www. fbcalexandria.org/LCT.
FRI.-SUN., DEC. 7-9
Derbyshire Baptist Church, Richmond, Va.; “Season’s Greetings” holiday worship concerts; Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.; and Sunday at 4 and 7 p.m.
First Baptist Church, Newport News, Va.; 10th annual “Singing Christmas Tree”; Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. (outdoors); Sunday at 5 p.m. (indoors).
Pritchard Memorial Baptist Church, Charlotte, N.C.; “Four Tickets to Christmas,” Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.; free tickets available.
SUN., DEC. 9
Bethel Baptist Church, Salem, Va.; “A Midnight Clear,” at 6 p.m.
Emerywood Baptist Church, High Point, N.C.; “Gloria” at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
First Baptist Church, Graham, N.C.; “Once Upon a Miracle” at 6 p.m.
Red Lane Baptist Church, Powhatan, Va.; Dixie Melody Boys and Calvary’s Mercy in concert at 7 p.m.
Salem (Va.) Baptist Church; “Tidings of Joy,” at 6 p.m.
St. John’s Baptist Church, Raleigh, N.C.; “And On Earth, Peace” at 11 a.m.
Yates Baptist Church, Durham, N.C.; “And On Earth Peace,” at 6 p.m.
On mission
The Loves-N-Stitches ministry at Central Baptist Church, Richmond, Va., recently presented 65 prayer shawls to the Thomas Johns Cancer Wing of Johnston Willis Hospital in Richmond. The shawls had been knitted by its members and were sent with prayers to those struggling with fears and care needs during their illness.
News
Southside Baptist Association celebrates 50 years
Banners made by churches hanging in the sanctuary at Crewe (Va.) Baptist Church celebrate Southside Baptist Association's anniversary.
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Over 325 people celebrated the 50th anniversary of Southside Baptist Association Oct. 21 at Crewe (Va.) Baptist Church. John Upton, president of the Baptist World Alliance and executive director of the Baptist General Association of Virginia, was keynote speaker. All of the association’s 23 churches participated by making banners to hang in the sanctuary during the service. Southside Baptist Association was formed at Victoria (Va.) Baptist Church on October 25, 1962. Dennis K. Myers currently serves as its coordinator of missions.
Military veterans living at The Chesapeake visit D.C. memorials
Seven World War II and Korean War veterans living at The Chesapeake, a Virginia Baptist Homes retirement community in Newport News, Va., traveled to Washington, D.C. in April at the invitation of the Honor Flight Network, an organization created to honor America’s veterans for their sacrificies.
Cliff Francis, a resident at The Chesapeake, in front of the Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C.
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HFN transports veterans to the nation’s capital to visit and reflect at memorials dedicated to their military service. Each veteran was escorted by a Coast Guardsman along a sidewalk flanked by a Coast Guard Honor Guard of men and women who greet them with proper military etiquette.
After a send-off by Congressman Rob Whitman, the group from The Chesapeake spent the day with a police escort in the greater D.C. area. They visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery, The Marine Corps War Memorial, the World War II War Memorial and the Korean War Memorial visited before their trip ended at The National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Va, where they were greeted with a Marine Corps Honor Guard and people waving American flags, thanking them for their service.
As they returned home the motor coach captain announced mail call and each veteran was given letters from family members and notes from elementary school children — just as they had during their military service so many years ago. “We felt extremely honored to have been treated so royally by so many people,” said Cliff Francis, a veteran of the Korean War. “It was an outing that we will never forget and was the best one day trip in our lifetime. It was like a dream come true.”