Transitions for the week of 6-8-18

Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly.

STAFF CHANGES

Paul Aita, to First Baptist Church, Olympia, Wash, as pastor in the interim.
Samuel Brink, to First Baptist Church, Portland, Oregon, as interim pastor, effective June 25.
Bill Bryan, to Abingdon (Va.) Baptist Church, as pastor. He comes from the pastorate of Old Greenbrier Baptist Church, Alderson, W.Va.
Katie Dias, to King’s Cross Church, Tullahoma, Tenn., as interim children’s minister.
Miles Goff, to Christ Church United, Lowett, Mass., as minister of faith and action. He comes from Judson Memorial Baptist Church, New York City, where he was community minister.
Michael Gunter, concluding his tenure as associate pastor of senior adults and discipleship at Gayton Baptist Church, Richmond, Va.
Jason Hladik, to Olean (N.Y.) Baptist Church, as pastor, effective in July. He comes from the pastorate of Federated Church, Wauconda, Ill.
Kathryn Spangler Kimmel and Brett Harris, to University Baptist Church, Hattiesburg, Miss., as associate pastor and director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at University of Southern Mississippi, respectively.
Phil Lawson, concluding his tenure as worship arts pastor at Gayton Baptist Church, Richmond, Va., to transition to a career in real estate, effective July 26.
Blake McFarland, to First Baptist Church, Blowing Rock, N.C., as associate pastor of students and families, effective July 1. He comes from Swann Station Baptist Church, Sanford, N.C., where he was student minister.
Scott Wade, to Emmaus Baptist Church, Poquoson, Va., as pastor.

RETIREMENTS

Gale O’Neil, retiring as pastor of Arlington (Wash). Baptist Church.

ORDINATIONS

Kristie Abney, ordained to ministry on June 2 by Highland Baptist Church, Louisville, Ky.

Sabrina Smith, ordained to ministry by First Baptist Church, Corbin, Ky., on June 10.

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DEATHS

Aaron Wheeler Sr., 71, died May 22 in Chesapeake, Va. A Southern Baptist minister for 30 years, he recently retired from Mountaintop Missionary Baptist Church in Chesapeake, one of three churches he founded. He was an advisor to U.S. Presidents and congressional leaders. A civil rights activist, he marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr. He is survived by his wife, Barbara; five children, Monique, Aaron Jr., Camile and Joshua; and 10 grandchildren.