Bostick to lead ABSC evangelism team

LITTLE ROCK – Terry Bostick, 46, pastor of First Baptist Church, Oxford, Ala., has been named team leader of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC) evangelism and church growth team. He replaces J.D. “Sonny” Tucker, who served in the position before being named ABSC executive director in December 2012.

BostickBostick is no stranger to Arkansas, having previously served as a team member of the ABSC evangelism and church growth team from 1999 until 2006, when he became pastor of First Baptist, Oxford.

While in Arkansas, Bostick was interim pastor of Mount Carmel Baptist Church, Cabot; Central Baptist Church, Jonesboro, and Eastside Baptist Church, Paragould, as well as adjunct professor at Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia.

“I’m excited about coming back (to the state),” Bostick told the Arkansas Baptist News. “I love Arkansas Baptist churches. I want to encourage pastors and laypeople to help them accomplish their mission – which is to reach the lost for Christ. My goal is to help congregations move outside the walls of the church as they share the gospel.”

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Sharing clothing and Christ under the Broadway Bridge

Hundreds gather for food and clothing under the Broadway Bridge in Little Rock April 27. Photos by Eric Spangler and Tim YarbroughTim Yarbrough
Arkansas Baptist News

THE RUMBLE OF CARS passing high overhead is distinctive as hundreds of homeless people and others experiencing hard times gather underneath the Broadway Bridge in Little Rock.

On this cold and misty morning, they will be receiving not only a hot breakfast, but clothing donated by a number of area churches and at least one business – all in the name of Jesus Christ.

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Bobby Thomas named Arkansas Baptist Foundation president-elect

LITTLE ROCK – Bobby G. Thomas, 37, of Cabot, has been named president-elect of the Arkansas Baptist Foundation.

ThomasThomas, who serves as the Foundation's institutional investment consultant, was selected by the Foundation’s May board of trustees meeting. Thomas replaces David Moore, 63, who will retire on or before April 1, 2015.

Board chairman Tom Staley, a Little Rock attorney, explained the process involved in the selection of Thomas as the Foundation’s next president. 

"Our fiduciary responsibilities require great diligence in selecting our leadership. Dr. Moore has been working with our board for the past two years in anticipation of such a transition. We have identified a number of potential candidates to replace Moore one day, but no one was as promising to us as Bobby Thomas,” said Staley.

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Brunson named Mother of Year

MONTICELLO – Amy Brunson, member of Second Baptist Church, Monticello, has been named the Arkansas Baptist News (ABN) 2013 Mother of the Year.

BrunsonBrunson was presented with a gift card during the April 28 worship service at Second Baptist Church, where Jimmy Albrecht serves as pastor.

The annual contest asks readers to nominate mothers by submitting an essay titled, “A Tribute to a Godly Mother.” 

“Amy is a fine woman of God who constantly demonstrates her faithfulness by service and commitment, and she always does it with a smile on her face,” said Albrecht. She is a single mom who raised two fine young men, bringing them up in the ways of the Lord. She has touched the lives of many by being a teacher at Monticello High School, as well as serving in the nursery at Second Baptist. I cannot think of any mother more qualified to be Mother of the Year than Amy Brunson.”

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George Beverly Shea dies at 104

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (BP) – George Beverly Shea, the longtime soloist for Billy Graham Crusades, died April 16 after a brief illness. He was 104.

Shea and Graham were lifelong friends, for decades living only a mile apart from each other in Montreat, N.C. 

“I first met Bev Shea while in Chicago when he was on Moody Radio,” Graham said. “As a young man starting my ministry, I asked Bev if he would join me. He said yes, and for over 60 years, we had the privilege of ministering together across the country and around the world.”

SheaGraham added, “Bev was one of the most humble, gracious men I have ever known and one of my closest friends. I loved him as a brother.”

A lengthy New York Times obituary said that Graham wasn’t always the more famous of the two. When Graham asked Shea to sing at his preaching events in the 1940s, Shea already was a nationally known voice in Christian music, The Times said. Graham, at the time, was a “fledgling minister.”

“As has been widely reported, their early revival meetings were often advertised like this: BEV SHEA SINGS. Billy Graham will preach,” The Times said. 

By the time old age led to the winding down of their ministry together, Shea had “faithfully carried the gospel in song to every continent and every state in the Union,” the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) said. 

Franklin Graham reflected on the character of the man who was by his father’s side in ministry for more than six decades.

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