ATLANTA (ABP) — Jack Snell, a well-known Baptist pastor and global missions coordinator, died Oct. 2 after a nine-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 66.
Snell, who at the end of his life oversaw more than 150 Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel worldwide, had worked for 40 years as a pastor, including 20 years most recently at Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla.
As a director of global field ministries for CBF, he traveled the world planning budgets, policies and strategies for mission workers. He also encouraged them as they worked with some of the world's most neglected people, friends said.
Daniel Vestal, CBF's executive coordinator, said Snell impacted and will continue to impact many aspects of Baptist life.
“His love for Christ and commitment to global missions have been a profound inspiration in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship,” Vestal said. “He has shaped and formed CBF as much as any individual I know.”
Snell began work with CBF in 2000, serving as an associate coordinator for mission teams in Asia. Along with his wife, Anita, he served as a liaison between field personnel and the CBF national office. He also taught and mentored local pastors. In 2005, he was named interim coordinator of CBF global missions, where for more than a year he provided leadership for all of the CBF global missions staff and field personnel.
“There is no way to exaggerate the shaping influence that Jack Snell had upon global missions, both at CBF and beyond, over the past 16 years,” said Rob Nash, CBF's global missions coordinator. “He has been at the forefront of our global-mission engagement since the very beginning, chairing the first global-missions ministry group, shaping decisions about where we engaged and why, taking his congregation in Jacksonville on short-term missions alongside our field personnel, and finally, serving us so very well as a vital member of the CBF national staff.”
In addition to the Jacksonville pastorate, Snell served as pastor of Central Baptist Church in Newnan, Ga., and Long Run Baptist Church in Anchorage, Ky.
A Florida native, Snell completed his undergraduate degree at Samford University, two master's degrees at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a doctorate at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Snell is survived by his wife, Anita; his son, Charles, of Atlanta; his daughter, Stephanie, and son-in-law, Henry Kahler, of Jacksonville, Fla.
A funeral service has been set for 11 a.m. Oct. 6 at Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla. There will also be a memorial service Oct. 13 at Second Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga. A reception will begin at 10 a.m. with a service to follow.
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