DEATHS Longtime Tennessee Baptist pastor George Gilbert died June 16. Gilbert was a minister in the Knoxville area for nearly 60 years. Churches he served as pastor included Ridgeview, Gayland Heights, Central (Alcoa), Hollywood Hills, Galilee, Northwest and Middlebrook Pike. In addition to serving as a pastor, he was a lifelong educator. Gilbert served in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict but never saw combat. He was preceded in

PEOPLE Steve Roper, Baptist collegiate ministry specialist at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, was recognized recently for 30 years of ministry with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. Roper was licensed to preach in 1985. He and his wife Rhonda have twin sons. Tim Bray has been called as associate pastor at First Baptist Church, Morristown. He served the church as student pastor from 2008-10. Since then he has completed his

LEADERS The Mouth of Richland Baptist Church, Blaine, recently called two new ministers. Nick Wright is the new senior pastor while Brad Bales is executive pastor. Wright is a graduate of Carson-Newman University, Jefferson City. He formerly served as youth minister at Union Baptist Church, Knoxville and was transitional pastor at Graveston Baptist Church, Corryton. Bales served as student pastor at Graveston Baptist and was chaplain for the football team

DEATHS Longtime Tennessee Baptist pastor Edward C. Minor died May 5. He was 87. Minor was pastor of several Tennessee Baptist churches including Concord Baptist Church, Brentwood; Nolensville Baptist Church, Nolensville; Grace Baptist Church, Bethpage; Chapel Hill Baptist Church, Chapel Hill; and Arrington Baptist Church, Arrington. He also was pastor of churches in Alabama and North Carolina and he worked for 17 years with Thomas Nelson Publishers. Minor is survived

LEADERS Denise Bronaugh, adult specialist for Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union, was recently honored for 15 years of service on the staff of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. Bronaugh was active in WMU at First Baptist Church, Nashville, where she is a member, before joining the WMU staff in 2003. Bronaugh and her husband Jim have two daughters. Stacy Murphree, Baptist Collegiate Ministry specialist at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville,

LEADERS Ray Van Neste, professor of biblical studies at Union University, Jackson, has been appointed as dean of the university’s School of Theology and Missions. Van Neste has served on the Union faculty since 2001 and also is director of the R.C. Ryan Center for Biblical Studies. He will begin his role as dean on June 1. Jason Curtis was called in March as pastor of Liberty Baptist Church, Winchester

LEADERS Mount Hermon Baptist Church, Savannah, has called Jonathan Barnard as pastor to students and children. He had been living in Gulfport, Miss., while attending New Orleans (La.) Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Stefanie, have three children. Joe Wright, director of missions for Dyer Baptist Association, based in Dyersburg, for the past 18 years, has resigned to become executive director of the Bivocational Small Church Leadership Network. He

LEADERS Russ Wilkins, former associate pastor for students, missions, and education at First Baptist Church, Huntingdon, has been named director of missions for Shiloh Baptist Association. Wilkins is a former admissions counselor at Union University in Jackson and youth pastor at Oakfield Baptist Church, Oakfield. Shiloh Association is comprised of 47 churches in McNairy and Hardin Counties. John Adams, a former university administrator at Union University in Jackson who is

ASSOCIATIONS Lawrence County Baptist Association is sponsoring “Returning to Holiness Through Spiritual Renewal” April 22-25. Sessions and locations include Summertown Baptist Church, Summertown, April 21, 7 p.m.; April 22, 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.; First Baptist Church, Loretto, 6:30 p.m., April 23; Leoma Baptist Church, Leoma, 6:30 p.m., April 24; and Macedonia Baptist Church, Lawrenceburg, 6:30 p.m., April 25. Gregory Frizzell, founder and president