LEADERS Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, celebrated his fifth anniversary in September. Jones and his wife, Pam, are former Southern Baptist missionaries to Costa Rica, Belize and Guatemala. He also served as a director of missions in Iowa where he was heavily involved in disaster relief work. Since coming to Tennessee, TBC DR teams have responded to 78 disasters, which accounts for 32 percent

LEADERS Corey Cain was called July 1 as the lead pastor of First Baptist Church, Seymour. Cain previously served as pastor of Maplewood Baptist Church, Paris. Cain currently serves as president of the Tennessee Baptist Pastors Conference and second vice president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. Kerry Franks recently was called as pastor of Green River Baptist Church, Waynesboro. He had been serving as youth pastor. He begins his new

CHURCHES Trinity Baptist Church, Knoxville, will hold revival services Sept. 20-23 with evangelist Phil Glisson of Memphis. Lucy Baptist Church, Millington, will celebrate its 150th anniversary Sept. 19-20. A worship service is planned for Saturday, Sept. 19 at 6, followed by a dessert fellowship. Brunch will be served on Sunday, Sept. 20, followed by the worship service. Former staff member Robert Hooker, pastor of Huber Heights Baptist Church, Huber Heights,

LEADERS Roger “Sing” Oldham has been named director of pastor engagement for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. Oldham has been serving as a contract consultant over the past six months assisting the TBMB in the area of developing systems and tools in the area of equipping pastors and ministry leaders. Prior to joining the TBMB staff, Oldham served as a vice president for the SBC Executive Committee for 12-and-a-half years.

LEADERS Central Baptist Church, Oak Ridge, called James R. Raffety of Owasso, Okla., as senior pastor, effective July 1. He was called to full-time ministry in 1995 and has 16 years of Christian service as a youth minister, singles minister, houseparent and as a senior pastor. Daniel McKenzie was called June 14 to serve as discipleship pastor at First Baptist Church, Manchester. He will begin on Aug. 2. Also, at

DEATHS Longtime Tennessee Baptist pastor and director of missions Charles D. Earl Sr., 89, died June 7. He served as pastor of six Southern Baptist churches and was director of missions for Holston Valley Baptist Association, based in Rogersville. After his retirement, he served as an associate pastor at Beaver Dam Baptist Church in Knoxville. He formerly served on the Executive Board of the Tennessee Baptist Convention (now Tennessee Baptist

EVENTS The Janet Bearden Welcome Center at Linden Valley Baptist Conference Center will be dedicated July 25 at 2 p.m. There will be a brief dedication of the new facility, followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The welcome center honors Janet Bearden who served at Linden Valley many years with her husband, Tim Bearden, former senior manager of the conference centers. She died of cancer in 2013. An open house will

LEADERS Randy Franklin Keene, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Minor Hill, will write the Bible Studies for Life lessons for the June-August quarter. He joins Travis Biller, who will continue writing the Explore the Bible lessons for the next quarter. Keene did his New and Old Testament studies at Liberty University and completed the R.G. Lee Studies program at Union University in Jackson. He also has served as pastor

LEADERS John Parrott, bivocational ministries specialist and Harvest Field 7 team leader for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board since 2015, retired May 7. Parrott has been involved in the ministry since 1969 when he was a student at Carson-Newman University. He was called to his first pastorate in 1972 and served as a pastor until 1995 when he became the director of missions for Holston Baptist Association, based in Rogersville.

LEADERS Brad Childres began serving April 1 as pastor of New Zion Baptist Church, Pulaski. He formerly served as senior pastor of Woodlawn Baptist Church in Danville, Va. DEATHS Longtime Tennessee Baptist pastor Claude Ferguson died March 27. He had served as pastor of Reunion Baptist Church, Knoxville, for more than 30 years before retiring in 2013 due to health reasons.