Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly.
STAFF CHANGES
Mary Alice Birdwhistell, to Calvary Baptist Church, Waco, Texas, as pastor. Previously she served as associate pastor.
Adam Hughes, to Bethel Baptist Church, Salem, Va., as associate pastor.
David Hull, to Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church, Atlanta, Ga., as associate pastor, effective June 1.
Helen Jin Kim, to Candler School of Theology at Emory University, Atlanta, Ga., as assistant professor of American religious history.
Brian Mitchell, to First Baptist Church, Inman, S.C., as minister of family life.
Bud Parrish, now serving as interim pastor of New Bessemer Baptist Church, McLeansville, N.C.
Melva L. Sampson, to Wake Forest University School of Divinity, Winston-Salem, N.C., as assistant professor of preaching and practical theology, effective August 2017.
David Slayton, concluding his tenure as senior pastor of South Norfolk Baptist Church, Chesapeake, Va.
Nathan Taylor, to the Virginia Baptist Historical Society and the Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies, Richmond, Va., as executive director. He comes from Central Baptist Church, Richmond, Va., where he served as associate pastor for Christian formation and children.
Kristin Whitesides, to First Baptist Church, Winchester, Va., as pastor. She had been serving as acting senior pastor. Previously she served as associate pastor.
RETIREMENTS
Ronnie Brewer, announcing plans to retire as senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Bristol, Va., effective February 2018.
John Chapman, retiring after 20 years as pastor of First Baptist Church, Havre, Mont.
Virginia Holmstrom, announcing plans to retire after 16 years as executive director of American Baptist Women’s Ministries, effective March 2018.
Phillip B. Rivenbark, retiring as associate pastor of First Baptist Church, Wallace, N.C., where he has served for 21 years.
ORDINATION
Becky Tucker, ordained to ministry on April 9 by First Baptist Church, Abilene, Texas.
DEATHS
Trent Argo, 55, died April 25 in Bluefield, Va. He was vice president for enrollment management at Bluefield College, joining the staff in 2011. Under his leadership Bluefield College has achieved consecutive years of student growth and has earned a variety of admissions distinctions. He is survived by his wife, Sandra; two daughters, Chelsea and Rachel; two sons, Lucas and William; and three step-children, Emilio Cesar Weba Filho, Lais De Lima Weba and Bruno Cesar De Lima Weba.
William Lewis “Bill” Turner, 78, died April 22 in Lexington, Ky. As a pastor in ministry for 63 years, he was senior pastor of New Home Baptist Church, Wetumpka, Ala.; Immanuel Baptist Church, Louisville, Ky.; Pleasureville (Ky.) Baptist Church; Latonia (Ky.) Baptist Church, Central Baptist Church, Lexington, Ky.; South Main Baptist Church, Houston, Texas; Faith Fellowship, Lexington, Ky., and most recently Liberty Road Faith Fellowship, Lexington, Ky. He directed the Doctor of Ministry program at Lexington (Ky.) Theological Seminary and was senior lecturer in preaching and worship at the Baptist Seminary of Kentucky. He is survived by his wife, Earlene; three daughters, Lisa Hernandez, Laurie Turner and Andrea Turner; five grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
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KUDOS
CHURCH ANNIVERSARIES
Ball Camp Baptist Church, Knoxville, Tenn.; 220 years; Apr. 30.
Bethel Baptist Church, Midlothian, Va.; 200 years; April 30.
STAFF ANNIVERSARIES
Tommy McDearis, 20 years as senior pastor of Blacksburg (Va.) Baptist Church.
Joe Phelps, 20 years as senior pastor of Highland Baptist Church, Louisville, Ky.
In case you missed them:
Transitions for the week of 04.21.17
Transitions for the week of 04.14.17