STAFF CHANGES
• Robert Belcher, to Stuart Church, Stuart, as pastor.
• Garry Edwards, resigning as pastor of Thomas Village Church, Duffield.
• Henry Styron, resigning as pastor of North Pamunkey Church, Orange, to accept a pastorate in North Carolina.
• Jim Price, resigning as pastor of Rivermont Church, Danville.
MISSIONS MOMENT
Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond held a blood drive October 1 in honor of Cecil Sherman, a visiting professor at the seminary and long-time leader of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Sherman was receiving treatment for leukemia at the M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston, Texas; and his daughter, Eugenia Sherman Brown, requested donations of blood to replenish that her father received during his treatment. The seminary sponsored a blood drive that gave everyone the opportunity to “roll up their sleeves” and help not only Sherman, but also those locally who are in need of blood. Pictured above are participants at the blood drive. Dr. Sherman's leukemia is now in remission and he has returned to Richmond where he serves as pastor of Westover Baptist Church.
• Jim Rizer, to Burrows Memorial Church, Norfolk, as interim pastor.
• Rod Hale, to Powers Memorial Church, Hopewell, as interim pastor.
• Dallas Stallings, to Berryville Church, Berryville, as interim pastor.
• Larry Farrell, to to Woodberry Hills Church, Danville, as interim pastor.
• Aaron Noe, to First Church, Weber City, as minister to youth.
• Jonathan Barnette, to Newington Church, Gloucester, as children and youth pastor.
CHURCH NEWS
• United Church, Danville, will hold revival Nov. 23-25 with Darrell Fletcher as guest evangelist.
• Zoar Church, Deltaville, will celebrate its 200th anniversary on Nov. 16. Fred Anderson, executive director of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society, will present historical facts at the 10 a.m. service. John Upton, executive director of the Baptist General Association of Virginia, will bring the message at the 11 a.m. service.
DEATH
• Retired Virginia Baptist pastor Irvin Lee Hall died in Danville Oct. 30 at the age of 83. He served as pastor of Sandy Shores Church, Danville, for 37 years, retiring in 1997. After retirement he rejoined his childhood church, Calvary Baptist. For many years he worked with Habitat for Humanity, Impact Virginia and World Changers. He is preceded in death by his wife, Mildred Shore Hall. He is survived by four sons, Irvin Lee Jr., Thomas Justin, Jerome Steven and Mark Edward Hall, nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. A funeral service was held Nov. 2 at Calvary Church, Danville.
Correction: Charles Anderson, pictured in the Missions Moment photo of our Nov. 6 issue, is the former pastor of Winfall Church, Gladys.
MISSIONS MOMENT
Members of Howertons Baptist Church in Dunnsville recently participated in two mission projects. The WMU collected school supplies for the Hispanic ministry in Essex and the Northern Neck sponsored by the Rappahannock Baptist Association. Pictured at left are the ladies with backpacks and some of supplies collected. Rather than bringing donations to Vacation Bible School this year, students and teachers collected supplies for The Haven, a domestic and sexual abuse facility located in Warsaw. Pictured at right are VBS participants with items such as laundry detergent, paper towels, baby wipes and trash bags collected for The Haven.
BTSR awards Ralph Langley Preaching Scholarship
Riddle
Brittany Riddle, a native of Louisville, Ky., has been awarded the Ralph Langley Preaching Scholarship by the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. Donated in honor of Ralph Langley, pastor emeritus at First Baptist Church, Huntsville, Alabama, this scholarship is the first of its kind to be given to BTSR. The scholarship was created when the missions committee of the church met to seek ways to help encourage and equip future leadership in the pastoral role. Recognizing that many seminary students struggle with financial burdens in order to follow their calling, they felt a scholarship could help alleviate that burden. BTSR oversaw the application process and awarded the $30,000 scholarship for three years of seminary education to Riddle, a graduate of Furman University. She was one of the founding members and president of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship at Furman, an organization sponsored by CBF of South Carolina.