By Bob Allen An Illinois judge ruled Feb. 10 that a man accused of murdering a Southern Baptist preacher in his pulpit nearly three years ago is mentally unfit to stand trial. Madison County Circuit Judge Richard Tognarelli said there…
Former minister pleads guilty to abuse
By Bob Allen The former pastor of a Southern Baptist church in Maryland pleaded guilty Feb. 7 to sexually abusing a girl in his congregation. Joe Nix Ivey, 74, of Walkersville, Md., confessed to a second-degree sex offense in a…
Campus minister Melissa Cheliras dies following battle with cancer
By Robert Dilday Melissa Cheliras, Baptist campus minister at the University of Richmond, died Feb. 10, following a four-month battle with esophageal cancer. She was 33. Melissa Cheliras Cheliras had been part-time collegiate minister at UR since last summer. She…
Retiring CBF head to lead new center for Baptist leadership
By Bob Allen Retiring Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Executive Coordinator Daniel Vestal has been tapped to lead Mercer University’s new Eula Mae and John Baugh Center for Baptist Leadership. Vestal, 67, will assume his new role July 1, the day after…
Veteran Baptist communicator Lloyd Householder dies
Lloyd Householder, 82, a veteran Southern Baptist denominational worker and communicator, died Jan. 30. Householder worked 32 years for the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board, now called LifeWay Christian Resources, before retiring in 1992 as assistant vice president for the…
Veteran Baptist communicator Lloyd Householder dies
Associated Baptist Press Lloyd Householder, 82, a veteran Southern Baptist denominational worker and communicator, died Jan. 30. Householder worked 32 years for the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board, now called LifeWay Christian Resources, before retiring in 1992 as assistant vice…
African-American Texas Baptist pioneer dies
By Ken Camp Harold Branch, the first African-American officer of the Baptist General Convention of Texas died Jan. 20 in Corpus Christi, Texas, a community he served in various capacities since 1956. He was 92. Branch was pastor of St….
Jim Newton, Baptist journalist, dies at 75
Jim Newton By Bob Allen Longtime Baptist journalist Jim Newton died Jan. 16 at Baptist Hospital hospice care in Clinton, Miss., after a battle with leukemia. Newton, 75, was born in Kingsville, Texas, into the third generation of a family…
Francis McBeth, world-renowned composer, dies at 78
W. Francis McBeth, an internationally acclaimed composer and conductor and longtime professor of music at Ouachita Baptist University, died Friday, Jan. 6, at age 78. Francis McBeth McBeth, who earned extensive accolades throughout his career, served as Ouachita’s composer-in-residence, Lena…