RICHMOND—Wayne Coley, a longtime Virginia Baptist leader in children’s ministries, died Jan. 14 in Richmond following a long illness. He was 67.
For a total of 23 years, Coley was on the staff of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, where he was a children’s education and missions consultant and also responsible for special education ministries.
Later, he was vice president for partnerships in the developmental disabilities ministry of HopeTree Family Services. He retired in 2007 for health reasons.
Coley joined the staff of the Virginia Baptist General (now Mission) Board in 1975 as preschool consultant. Three years later he took a similar position with the Southern Baptist Convention’s Baptist Sunday School Board (now LifeWay Christian Resources) and then joined the staff of First Baptist Church in Jackson, Miss., as minister of preschool activities.
But in 1983 he returned to the staff of the Virginia board, staying for almost two decades. During that period he became Virginia Baptists’ premier authority on children’s ministry. He also became closely associated with special education ministry, organizing a popular annual retreat at Eagle Eyrie Baptist Conference Center for mentally and physically handicapped children and adults.
A staff reorganization of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board in December 2002 ended employment for 18 people, including Coley. But about two months later he joined the staff of the Virginia Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services (now HopeTree Family Services), where he worked closely with adults with developmental disabilities, serving as liaison between the agency’s ministry and churches and associations across Virginia.
Health concerns forced him to step down from the position in 2007.
“Wayne brought to us his love for our DDM constituents and ministry to persons with special needs, along with a history of advocacy for them through his years with the Virginia Baptist Mission Board,” said HopeTree executive director Stephen Richerson when Coley retired.
Born in Accomac, Va., in 1941, Coley grew up in Drummondtown Baptist Church there and earned degrees at the University of Richmond and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.
Before joining the Mission Board in 1975, he served on the staff of four Baptist churches: Hillside and Fairmount Memorial, both in Richmond; Glencarlyn Road in Falls Church; and First in Kernersville, N.C.
In 2002 Coley was named educator of the year by the Virginia Baptist Religious Educators Association and in 2007 received a resolution of commendation from the Chesterfield County board of supervisors.
He is survived by his wife, Peggy, and one son, Bert, who serves in the U.S. military and is based in Oklahoma.
A funeral service was held Jan. 17 at Woody’s Funeral Home in Richmond and burial was in Westhampton Memorial Park in Richmond.
