Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated bi-weekly.
STAFF CHANGES
Amantha L. Barbee, to PneuMatrix and the Center for Healthy Churches, Clemmons, N.C., as consultant. She is a ministry engagement advisor for the Presbyterian Church USA.
Ellen Baxter, to PneuMatrix and the Center for Healthy Churches, Clemmons, N.C., as consultant.
Cody Chaffin, to Bowling Green (Va.) Baptist Church, as pastor. He comes from Lake Church, Arlington, Texas, where he was pastoral resident.
Daniel Collins, to Oak Level Baptist Church, Bassett, Va., as pastor, effective Jan. 1. He had been serving as interim pastor there.
Craig Dunn, to First Baptist Church, Waxahachie, Texas, as connections ministry director.
Lou Ann Gilliam, to Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina, as ministerial equipping director, effective Dec. 4.
Randy Grim, concluding his tenure as minister of music at Spring Hill Baptist Church, Mobile, Ala., after 38 years.
Malcolm A. Medley, to Ebenezer Baptist Church, Philadelphia, Pa., as pastor.
Cara Morgan, to First Baptist Church, Commerce, Ga., as minister to children and families, effective in January.
John Norman Jr., to Campbell University Divinity School, Buies Creek, N.C., as director of partnership development. He comes from the pastorate of First Baptist Church, Four Oaks, N.C., where has served for 26 years.
Janet Pace, to First Baptist Church, Winfield, Kansas, as pastor.
Curtis Ramsey-Lucas, to American Baptist Home Mission Societies, as director of communications and marketing. He will continue serving as editor of The Christian Citizen.
Koby Strawser, to Edenton (N.C.) Baptist Church, as pastor, effective in January. He comes from the pastorate of First Baptist Church, Erwin, Tenn.
Lindsay Wiles, to Orange (Va.) Baptist Church, as minister of youth.
BJ Woodworth, to PneuMatrix and the Center for Healthy Churches, Clemmons, N.C., as consultant. He comes from East Liberty Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, Pa., where he is the covenant pastor for spiritual life.
RETIREMENTS
Bob Farmer, retiring as pastor of administration and senior adults at First Baptist Church, Owensboro, Ky.
Kirk Horton, retiring after 16 years as executive pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Woodbridge, Va.
John Payne, retiring as pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, Philadelphia, Pa.
ORDINATIONS
Dennis Mohr, ordained to ministry on Nov. 12 by Grace Baptist Church, Woodbridge, Va.
Hannah Moody, ordained to ministry on Oct. 29 by Calvary Baptist Church, Lexington, Ky.
Ethan Young, ordained to ministry on Nov. 12 by Grace Baptist Church, Woodbridge, Va., where he serves as youth pastor.
Zachery Williams, ordained to ministry on Nov. 12 by Grace Baptist Church, Woodbridge, Va., where he serves as worship leader.
DEATHS
Kathryn Wilsey Baker, 84, died Nov. 1 in Land O Lakes, Fla. She served as director of Christian education at First Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Fla., and later as associate pastor there. She then served American Baptist Churches placing retired ministers in churches as interim pastors. Then in 1985 she became executive minister for American Baptist Churches of the Niagara Frontier in Buffalo, N.Y. She was then called to The United Church of Christ as the executive minister in Buffalo and served in that role until her retirement. She is preceded in death by her husband, Vern. She is survived by daughters Elizabeth Eldredge, Marjorie Davis, Emily Montesanti, and Anna Stuart. and 9 grandchildren.
Richard Ford Wash, 83, died Oct. 8 in Pelham, Ala. He was pastor of Liberty Baptist Church, Thomasville, Ala.; First Baptist Church, Axis, Ala; Cedar Hill Baptist Church, Brewton, Ala.; and Crosscreek Baptist Church, Pelham, Ala.; before joining the SBC International Mission Board as a missionary in Hong Kong. After returning from the mission field, he became pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Foley, Ala. He went on to found Hope Ministries and build Christ Church in Ilagan, Philippines. He is survived by his wife, Janice; three sons, Richard Kevin, Donald Stephen, and Daniel Lanford; and six great-grandchildren.
Elmer S. West Jr., 101, died Nov. 18 in Richmond, Va. He served as the pastor of Baptist churches in New York, North Carolina, and Virginia. He also spent more than 30 years serving administrative posts in the Southern Baptist Convention. He was a trustee of the Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board) for 10 years. He then served as director of missionary personnel, director of special ministries and staff chaplain. He was director of program development at the SBC Christian Life Commission. He was the first field representative for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in Virginia. He was also a member of the Alliance of Baptists. He was a founding trustee of the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond and became its first honorary life trustee. He was predeceased by his wife, Betsy, and daughter,r Kathy Clarke West. He is survived by two daughters, Martha and Jennie West; son, John; 11 grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.
KUDOS
ANNIVERSARIES
Tom Gholson, 20 years as pastor of Brook Hollow Baptist Church, Nashville, Tenn.
Marcus Vaughan, 10 years as worship and ministry director for Beale Memorial Baptist Church, Tappahannock, Va.
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In case you missed them:
Transitions for the week of 11-17-23
Transitions for the week of 11-3-23
Transitions for the week of 10-20-23
Transitions for the week of 10-6-23