Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated bi-weekly.
STAFF CHANGES
Nick Boden, to First Baptist Church, Carrollton, Ga., as organist. Most recently he was organist for Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta for 22 years.
Sean Burns, to First Baptist Church, Washington, D.C., as organist.
Brittany Caldwell, to Great Rivers Fellowship, Shreveport, La., as coordinator of community engagement.
Alyssa Carter, to South Main Baptist Church, Houston, Texas, as minister to children.
Stan Farmer, now serving as church administrator for First Baptist Church, Jefferson City, Mo.
Caleb Foust, to Piney Grove Baptist Church, Mt. Airy, N.C., as senior pastor, effective in August. He comes from Emerywood Baptist Church, High Point, N.C., where he is associate minister.
Hatcher Geary, to First Baptist Church, Gaffney, S.C., as children’s and family pastor.
Paul Gilliam, to Winter Park Baptist Church, Wilmington, N.C., as senior pastor, effective July 1. He comes from the pastorate of First Baptist Church, Ahoskie, N.C.
Emily Holladay, to Immanuel Baptist Church, Frankfort, Ky., as senior pastor. She comes from the pastorate of Village Baptist Church, Bowie, Md.
Leah Lucas, to Together for Hope Louisiana, as director of ministry at Lake Providence.
Taylor Mason, concluding his tenure as associate pastor of community engagement and youth for Kirkwood Baptist Church, St. Louis, Mo., to relocate to Nashville, Tenn.
Shane McNary, to Great Rivers Fellowship, Shreveport, La., as coordinator of ministry. Previously he was CBF global missionary to the Romani people in Slovakia and Czechia.
Kellan Monroe, to Church on Main, Snellville, Ga., as worship and arts pastor, effective in July. He comes from Deermeadows Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Fla., where he was worship pastor.
Anna Moxley, to Derbyshire Baptist Church, Richmond, Va., as minister of faith development and music administration.
Natalie Ortiz-Lovince, concluding her tenure as associate minister to children for DaySpring Baptist Church, Waco, Texas, to become executive director for Tri-Cities Ministries.
Ward Page, to Zebulon (N.C.) Baptist Church, as senior pastor. He comes from Hayes Barton Baptist Church, Raleigh, N.C., where he was associate pastor to students and outreach.
Kep Pate, to Hayes Barton Baptist Church, Raleigh, N.C., as interim minister of youth.
Leigh Ann Pernell, to College Park Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, N.C., as minister to children.
Jay Roland, concluding his tenure as connections minister for Earle Street Baptist Church, Greenville, S.C.
Jim Siegel, to First Baptist Church, Killeen, Texas, as minister of discipleship and administration. He comes from First Baptist Church, Temple, Texas, where he was minister to students.
Norman Wallace Scott, to New Hope Institutional Baptist Church, Tarrytown, N.Y., as pastor.
Steven Thomason, to Derbyshire Baptist Church, Richmond, Va., as minister of music.
Caroline Tucker, to First Baptist Church, Martinsville, Va., and Chatham Heights Baptist Church, Martinsville, Va., as associate pastor for families, effective July 23.
Sean Tucker, to Third Baptist Church, Youngstown, Ohio, as pastor.
Kelsey Lewis Vincent, to First Baptist Church, Wilson, N.C., as associate pastor of students and connections.
Gretchen Fern Watson, to St. Matthews Baptist Church, Louisville, Ky., as director of children and families.
Donna Watts, concluding her tenure as associate pastor of education for Kirkwood Baptist Church, St. Louis, Mo., to become a hospital chaplain in the St. Louis area, effective June 30.
RETIREMENTS
Lisa Anthony, retiring after 11 years as church administrator of Hayes Barton Baptist Church, Raleigh, N.C.
Leona Julian, retiring after 29 years as organist of First Baptist Church, San Marcos, Texas.
Scott North, retiring after 14 years as church administrator of First Baptist Church, Greensboro, N.C.
Christopher Thomas, retiring after 32 years as pastor of Diamond Hills Baptist Church, Morehead, Ohio.
ORDINATIONS
Toni Adams, ordained to ministry on June 11 by First Baptist Church, Oklahoma City., Okla., where she is executive ministry associate.
Haley Blackwell, ordained to ministry on May 7 by St. John’s Baptist Church, Charlotte, N.C., where she is equipping minister.
Anna Rullan-Garcia, ordained to ministry on June 11 by Ravensworth Baptist Church, Annandale, Va., where she is director of faith formation and outreach.
Jacob Dryden, ordained to ministry on June 11 by Crossroads Community Church, Yorktown, Va., where he is worship lead.
DEATHS
Russell H. Dilday, 92, died June 21 in Dallas, Texas. He served as president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas, from 1978 to 1994. After he was fired as president in 1994 by fundamentalists controlling the seminary’s board of trustees, he served as president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and in leadership roles at two other BGCT-affiliated schools. He was a retired distinguished professor of homiletics at Baylor University’s George Truett Seminary and served as special assistant to the president of Baylor University. In 2002 he served as interim president of Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, and was instrumental in founding B.H. Carroll Theological Institute, serving as its first chancellor. He was the founding pastor of Tallowood Baptist Church in Houston and pastor of Second Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Atlanta. He was preceded in death by his wife, Betty, and son, Robert. He is survived by two daughters, Nancy Duck and Ellen Garrett; six grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
Welton Gaddy, 81, died June 7 in Monroe, La. He was pastor emeritus of Northminster Church in Monroe, having served as senior pastor for 25 years. He was also president emeritus of Interfaith Alliance in Washington, D.C., having served as its president for 17 years. From 2006 until last year he was host of Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio program State of Belief. He was a founder of the Alliance of Baptists serving as its president and was a 20-year member of the Commission of Christian Ethics of the Baptist World Alliance. His past leadership roles include serving as president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, chair of the Pastoral Leadership Commission of the Baptist World Alliance and member of the World Economic Forum’s Council of 100. He is survived by his wife, Judy; son, James; and two grandsons.
KUDOS
ANNIVERSARIES
Todd Bradbury, 10 years as pastor of Bethel Baptist Church, Midlothian, Va.
Duane Brooks, 25 years of ministry at Tallowood Baptist Church, Houston, Texas. Currently he is senior pastor.
Monica Followell, 10 years as minister of missions and outreach at First Baptist Church, San Marcos, Texas.
Ben Sandstrom, 10 years as associate pastor for contemporary music at University Baptist Church, Houston, Texas.
Dan Lawhon, 15 years as organist-choirmaster of Baptist Church of the Covenant, Birmingham, Ala.
CHURCHES
First Baptist Church, Parsons, Kansas; 150 years; April 30.
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In case you missed them:
Transitions for the week of 6-9-23
Transitions for the week of 5-26-23
Transitions for the week of 5-12-23
Transitions for the week of 4-28-23