Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly.
STAFF CHANGES
Dennis Bazemore, to Murfreesboro (N.C.) Baptist Church, as interim pastor.
Larry Fields, to Smithwood Baptist Church, Knoxville, Tenn., as interim pastor.
Jessecca Green, to Trinity Baptist Church, Madison, Ala., as youth director.
Eddie Haigler, now serving as minister of discipleship and outreach at First Baptist Church, Kannapolis, N.C.
Judith Myers, to Emmanuel Baptist Fellowship, Lexington, S.C., as pastor. She comes from Ginter Park Baptist Church, Richmond, Va., where she was seminary resident.
Nathan Parker, to Woodmont Baptist Church, Nashville, Tenn., as senior pastor. He was serving as interim pastor.
Risa Poniros, to Crabtree Valley Baptist Church, Raleigh, N.C., as music director.
Dan Ridley, to First Baptist Church, Southern Pines, N.C., as interim minister of music.
Jacob Sensenig, to Trinity Baptist Church, San Antonio, Texas, as minister of music and worship arts, effective March 12. He comes from First Baptist Church, Hamilton, Texas, where he served as associate pastor of music and worship.
Joel Snider, to The Center for Healthy Churches, as a consultant. For the past 21 years he has been pastor of First Baptist Church, Rome, Ga.
Richard Stevens, to First Baptist Church, Stoneville, N.C., as pastor.
Gerald Thomas, to Pfafftown Christian Church, Winston-Salem, N.C., as pastor. He comes from the pastorate of Lamberth Memorial Baptist Church, Roxboro, N.C.
Frank M. Yamada, to Association of Theological Schools, as executive director, effective July 1. Currently he is president of McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, Ill. He will succeed Daniel O. Aleshire who will retire June 30.
Kelly Zytynski, to The Baptist Church of Beaufort, S.C., as preschool ministry coordinator.
ORDINATIONS
Kayla Lennon, ordained to ministry on Feb. 12 by Grace Baptist Church, Richmond, Va.
Lisa Zahalka, ordained to ministry on Jan. 9 by Trinity Baptist Church, Bloomfield, Ky.
Baptist News Global provides a free listing of ministry-related jobs for Baptist churches, theological institutions and organizations across the United States. Click here to learn more.
DEATHS
Walter Graham Byrum, 61, died Dec. 26 in Winterville, N.C. He had served in church music positions including First Baptist Church, Scotland Neck, N.C., where he served 21 years as associate pastor for music, worship and organist.; Westfield Baptist Church, Dunn., N.C.; and Colerain Baptist and the United Methodist Church in Lillington, N.C. At the time of his death he was associate pastor/minister of music and worship arts at The Memorial Baptist Church in Greenville, N.C. He is survived by his wife, Teresa; three sons, Graham, Kevin and Corey; a daughter, Elizabeth B. Taylor; and five grandchildren.
George H. Kraft, 91, died Jan. 29 in Ransomville, N.Y. He was a American Baptist minister who served churches throughout New England, including Lewiston and Ransomville Baptist churches in New York. He served on the American Baptist Churches of New York State board of managers. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy; sons, Ralph and Mark; and a granddaughter.
Warren Magnuson, 95, died Dec. 17 in Bloomington, Minn. He was pastor of First Baptist Church, Willmar, Minn., and Central Baptist Church, St. Paul, Minn., before being appointed general secretary of the Baptist General Conference (Converge Worldwide), a post he held for 18 years. He was the first BGC general secretary to be active at the Baptist World Alliance, serving as vice president from 1990-1995. He was predeceased by his wife, Margaret.
Jeremiah Pryce, 68, died Jan. 5 in Cleveland, Ohio. He was the founding pastor of Grace Tabernacle Baptist Church in Lyndhurst, Ohio. He served various pastorates in the New Testament Church of God in his birthplace, Jamaica. He also was associate pastor of Zion Baptist Church, Ardmore, Pa., and minister of Christian education at Antioch Baptist Church, Cleveland, Ohio. He is survived by his wife, Juliet; son, Edmund; and daughter, Kerri-Simone.
Glen Gunter Waldrop, 100, died Jan. 18 in Decatur, Ga. He was the first pastor of Briarcliff Baptist Church in Atlanta, where he served for 18 years. He served as pastor of 14 churches, including First Baptist Church, McDonough, Ga., and First Baptist Church, Columbia, S.C. He served as a trustee of the Georgia Baptist Hospital, trustee of Mercer University, director of the Home Mission Board and member of the general board of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. He is predeceased by his wife, Anne. He is survived by a daughter, Linda Smith; a son, Jim; and eight grandchildren.
KUDOS
STAFF ANNIVERSARIES
Brian Merz, 25 years as discipleship pastor at The Summit Church, Boise, Idaho.
Nathan Taylor, 10 years as associate pastor of Christian formation and children at Central Baptist Church, Richmond, Va.
In case you missed them:
Transitions for the week of 01.27.17
Transitions for the week of 01.20.17