Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly.
STAFF CHANGES
Nathan Adams, now serving as minister of missions and men at Pioneer Drive Baptist Church, Abilene, Texas.
Leigh Clark, to First Baptist Church, Bristol, Va., as minister of music.
Taylor Cruse, now serving as minister of college and associate missions at Pioneer Drive Baptist Church, Abilene, Texas.
Jaime Fitzgerald, to Park Road Baptist Church, Charlotte, N.C., as youth minister.
Jodi Leonard, to the Virginia Baptist Homes Foundation, as vice president, effective Jan. 1. For the past four years she has been the organization’s director of development.
Drew Nagy, to Westover Baptist Church, Richmond, Va., as pastor. He comes from Hunton Baptist Church, Glen Allen, Va., where he served as minister to youth.
Jeff Scott, now serving as minister of education at Pioneer Drive Baptist Church, Abilene, Texas.
Molly Shoulta Tucker, to Ridgewood Baptist Church, Louisville, Ky., as pastor.
Ben Wagener, concluding his tenure as minister of welcome and engagement at Knollwood Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Kristin Woodard, to Edenton (N.C.) Baptist Church, as director of youth and children.
Phillip Wright, to Clover Bottom Baptist Church, Nathalie, Va., as pastor.
RETIREMENTS
Pat Morris, retiring as vice president of the Virginia Baptist Homes Foundation, effective Dec. 31.
Steve D. Tyree, retiring as pastor of Elon (Va.) Baptist Church.
Tom Wiles, announcing plans to retire as executive minister of the American Baptists of Rhode Island, effective June 30, 2020.
ORDINATIONS
Jacob Goertz, ordained to ministry on Dec. 8 by Calvary Baptist Church, Denver, Colo.
Clay Mason, ordained to ministry on Dec. 22 by First Baptist Church, Tallahassee, Fla., where he serves as interim minister to college students.
DEATHS
Leon Grant, 81, died Dec. 14 in Rockville, Md. He was pastor emeritus of Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Rockville. He was active in the American Baptist Churches of the South. He is survived by his wife, Adranna; two sons, Leonard and Jonathan; and six grandchildren.
Ralph W. Harrell, 90, died Nov. 30 in Hillsborough, N.C. From 1958 to 1995 he and his wife, Rosalind, served as missionaries to East Africa. He was interim pastor in many churches well into his late 70’s. And when he was near 80, he was called to pastor Lakewood Baptist Church in Durham, N.C., leading the church to open its buildings to congregations of Christians from other countries and languages. He is preceded in death by his wife, Rosalind. He is survived by three children, Stephen, Beverly and Samuel; and eight grandchildren.
Nina Raye Phagan Pinkston, 89, died Dec. 2 in Grayson, Ga. She and her husband Glen were Southern Baptist missionaries in West Germany for 10 years, helping grow Baptist churches near U.S. military bases across Europe and serving as religious education consultants for the European Baptist Convention. She served in leadership roles in both the national Woman’s Missionary Union and Texas WMU. She is preceded in death by her husband. She is survived by sons Michael and Steven; and five grandchildren.
Eugene “Gene” Ton, 89, died Dec. 16 in Indianapolis, Ind. He served American Baptist churches during his four decades in ministry. He was pastor of Parr (Ind.) Baptist Church; associate pastor of First Baptist Church, Lafayette, Ind.; and senior minister of First Baptist Church, Lebanon, Ind., and First Baptist Church, Evansville, Ind. In 1977 he became the executive minister of the American Baptist Churches of Indianapolis and later the executive minister of the American Baptist Churches of Indiana. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Ellen. He is survived by three sons, Mitchell, Jeffrey and Joel; a daughter, Jill Stolenwerk; five grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
KUDOS
ANNIVERSARIES
David B. Freeman, 20 years as pastor of Weatherly Heights Baptist Church, Huntsville, Ala.
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In case you missed them:
Transitions for the week of 12-6-19
Transitions for the week of 11-22-19
Transitions for the week of 11-15-19
Transitions for the week of 11-1-19