Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly.
STAFF CHANGES
Stephanie Bohannon, to First Baptist Church, Fayetteville, N.C., as associate pastor.
Tim Borchert, concluding his tenure as pastor of Walnut Grove Baptist Church, Mechanicsville, Va.
Don Campbell, to Colosse Baptist Church, West Point, Va., as interim pastor.
Kyle Dobyns, to Ferry Farm Baptist Church, Fredericksburg, Va., as youth pastor.
Dean Frazeur, to Chesterfield Baptist Church, Moseley, Va., as intentional interim pastor.
Mark E. Gaskins, to Temple Baptist Church, Wilmington, N.C., as pastor.
Elizabeth Maye, to First Baptist Church, Bern, N.C., as associate pastor of youth and family life.
Betsy Perkins, to First Baptist Church, Delavan, Wis., as pastor.
Randall Sheets, to Culpeper (Va.) Baptist Church, as sanctuary choir director and organist. For the past 18 years he has served as ceremonial organist for Arlington National Cemetery.
Chester Smith, to Biltmore Baptist Church, Glen Allen, Va., as interim pastor.
Bert Young, to First Baptist Church, North Wilkesboro, N.C., as pastor.
RETIREMENT
David Engleman, retiring after 25 years as pastor of Chesterfield Baptist Church, Moseley, Va.
DEATHS
Paul Powell, 83, died Dec. 27 in Waco, Texas. He served as pastor of five churches, including 17 years as pastor of Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas. He was president and CEO of the Annuity Board of the SBC (now Guidestone Financial Resources). For six years he was dean of Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary. During the 1980s he was president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. He is survived by his wife, Cathy; son, Mike; daughter, Lori Gropper Powell; and three grandchildren.
Ronald C. Sumners, 67, died Dec. 29 in Meadow Brook, Ala. He served churches in Kentucky, South Carolina, North Carolina and Alabama. He retired from Meadow Brook Baptist Church after 19 years as its pastor. He is survived by his wife, Karen “Prissy”; daughter, Mary Katherine “Katie”; son; Samuel; and parents, James and Virginia Sumners.
Robert “Bob” Towner, 97, died Nov. 22 in Mountain View, Calif. An American Baptist pastor, he served churches in Lansing, Mich.; Norwich, N.Y.; Lewiston, Maine; Madison, Wis.; Palo Alto, Calif.; and Penfield, N.Y. He retired to Madison, Wis., in 1984 and served several interim pastorates. He is preceded in death by his first wife, Helen. He is survived by his wife, Lucille; five daughters, Susan Dean, Gretchen Lewis, Elizabeth Morrell, Kathryn and Mary Hargrove; 10 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Roger A. White, 87, died Dec. 22 in Roseboro, N.C. He began full-time ministry at White Oak (N.C.) Baptist Church in 1961 and would pastor in 12 other area churches for the next five decades. He is preceded in death by his first wife, Inez. He is survived by his wife, Mildred; four daughters, Emily Thornton, Bonnie Parker, Mary Allen and Ruth Godwin; and 10 grandchildren.
W. Thomas Wood, 78, died Dec. 23 in Portsmouth, Va. His 39 years of ministry included churches in Oklahoma, Kentucky and Virginia. He retired in 2003 from Westhaven Baptist Church in Portsmouth, having served there for 23 years. He was active in the Portsmouth Baptist Association and served on the boards of the Baptist General Association of Virginia and the Religious Herald Publishing Association, Inc. He is survived by his wife, Marjorie; and son, Bill.
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KUDOS
STAFF ANNIVERSARIES
Steve Allsbrook, 20 years as director of missions for Dover Baptist Association, Glen Allen, Va.
Bob Mayo, 30 years as organist at Second Baptist Church, Richmond, Va.
Louis Orsatti, 5 years as Spanish language pastor at Second Baptist Church, Richmond, Va.
Kent Taylor, 35 years as associate pastor of First Baptist Church, Radford, Va.
Chris Thomas, 5 years as pastor of First Baptist Church of Williams, Jacksonville, Ala.
In case you missed them:
There were no Transitions for the week of 12.30.16
Transitions for the week of 12.23.16
Transitions for the week of 12.16.16