By Bob Allen Carolyn Weatherford Crumpler, 84, former head of the Southern Baptist Convention Woman’s Missionary Union and an early champion of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, died Jan. 2 after a long illness. John David Hopper, former president of the…
Veteran Baptist communicator Pat Pattillo dies from leukemia
By Bob Allen Wesley M. (Pat) Pattillo, a long-time communications and development executive for both Baptist and ecumenical organizations, died Dec. 22 after a six-month battle with leukemia. Pattillo, 75, retired in 2011 after 10 years as associate general secretary…
Chowan University mourns student’s death
By Bob Allen A Baptist-affiliated university in North Carolina recently mourned the loss of a student murdered at an off-campus party Dec. 5. Flags flew at half-staff at Chowan University in Murfreesboro, N.C., for a Dec. 9 memorial service for…
Tennessee’s lone Arabic Baptist pastor dies
By Bob Allen A retired Southern Baptist missionary, whose attempts to evangelize Muslims in Middle Tennessee recently attracted attention in national media, died unexpectedly the day before Thanksgiving. Raouf Ghattas, 69, pastor of the Arabic Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, Tenn.,…
Pianist, professor Maurice Hinson dead at 84
By Bob Allen Maurice Hinson, one of America’s most respected authorities on piano literature who taught at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1957 until 2015, died Nov. 11 at age 84 after a battle with cancer. As professor and senior…
Member of BJC board dies after fall
By Bob Allen A member of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty board of directors died Oct. 8 from complications related to injuries he suffered from a fall as he left his hotel for the recent BJC board meeting….
McAfee prof sees hope in Gissendaner’s life and example, despite execution
By Jeff Brumley Melissa Browning’s Facebook page tells the story. More specifically, it tells Kelly Gissendaner’s story. Post after post describes the life and death of the Georgia inmate executed by lethal injection last week. “The amazing grace of Kelly…
Diana Garland, social work educator and bridge builder, dies
By Marv Knox Diana Richmond Garland, founding dean of Baylor University’s school of social work that now bears her name, died Sept. 21 after a five-month battle with pancreatic cancer. Garland, 65, trained generations of Christian social workers to express…
Accidental shooting kills N.C. Baptist pastor
By Bob Allen The founding pastor of one of the largest Southern Baptist churches in North Carolina died Aug. 29 in an accidental shooting while cleaning a pistol. Nations Ford Community Church in Charlotte, a predominantly African-American multi-site congregation affiliated…