Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated bi-weekly.
STAFF CHANGES
Natalie Aho, to Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, as director of development, effective June 5. She comes from Wake Forest University School of Divinity, Winston-Salem, N.C., where she was program manager for the Baptist Commons.
Kenny Davis, concluding his tenure after 11 years as pastor of Bybee’s Road Baptist Church, Troy, Va.
Elizabeth O’Donnell Gandolfo, to Wake Forest University School of Divinity, Winston-Salem, N.C., as associate dean of academic affairs, effective July 1. Currently she is Earley associate professor of Catholic and Latin American studies.
Marion Ivan Rios, to Cliff Temple Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas, as minister of missions and Spanish language ministries.
Brandon Treadway, to First Baptist Church, Cleburne, Texas, as minister of music.
RETIREMENTS
Elizabeth Erickson Carter, retiring after 40 years as organist for First Baptist Church, Decatur, Ala.
Bill Duganne, retiring as pastor of Stockton Memorial Baptist Church, Midlothian, Va., effective June 25.
Mark Jensen, retiring after 23 years on the faculty of Wake Forest University School of Divinity, Winston-Salem, N.C. Currently he is teaching professor of pastoral care and pastoral theology.
Janice Hocutt, retiring after 56 years in the music ministry at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, Raleigh, N.C. For the past 15 years she has served as organ and pianist.
Scott North, retiring after 14 years as church administrator of First Baptist Church, Greensboro, N.C.
Paul Sims, retiring after 29 years as minister of music and worship of First Baptist Church, Corbin, Ky.
ORDINATIONS
Sara Long, ordained to ministry by Calvary Baptist Church, Waco, Texas. She is a palliative care chaplain.
Jeanette McCloud, ordained to ministry on April 30 by Bybee’s Road Baptist Church, Troy, Va.
Anne Tambling, ordained to ministry by Knollwood Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, N.C., on May 7.
DEATHS
William “Billy” M. Honeycutt III, 72, died May 16 in Forest City, N.C. Ministry settings included hospital chaplain residency; church youth staff ministry; pastor of Mountain Creek Baptist Church, Rutherford, N.C.; and director of missions of Green River Baptist Association. In retirement he was chaplain at the Baptist Retirement Home in Asheville, N.C.; and interim pastor of First Baptist Church, Forest City. He is survived by his wife, Terry; a daughter, Sarah Elizabeth; a son, John; and five grandchildren.
Betty Law, 94, died April 16 in Fort Worth, Texas. She and her husband, Tom, were home missionaries in Cuba with the SBC Home Mission Board (now North American Mission Board.) In 1964 they began 18 years of missionary service in Spain with the SBC Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board.) Later when returning to the states they served for 11 years in Richmond, Va., on the staff of the Foreign Mission Board. She was only the second woman who served as a vice president there and the first to administer one of its geographical regions. She was preceded in death by her husband, Tom. She is survived by four sons, Thomas “Tom,” Richard “Dick,” Charles, and Stephen “Steve,”14 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.
Alford “Al” Smith, 81, died May 21 in Gainesville, Ga. He served for more than 50 years in management within the pulp and paper industry, living in Tennessee, Georgia, California, North Carolina and back to Georgia. He was the director of the Ministry of Caring for First Baptist Church, Gainesville, Ga. He is survived by his wife, Martha Anne; three sons, A. Lee Jr., Michael and Mark; daughter, Lee Anne; and four grandchildren.
KUDOS
CHURCHES
Rapidan Baptist Church, Madison, Va.; 250 years; May 21.
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.
In case you missed them:
Transitions for the week of 5-12-23
Transitions for the week of 4-28-23
Transitions for the week of 4-14-23
Transitions for the week of 3-31-23