W.L. CollinsW.L. COLLINS, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Florence, is retiring Dec. 31 after more than 20 years of ministry there. A graduate of West Georgia College and New Orleans Baptist Seminary, he became pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in 1987, after serving at Kilbourne Park Baptist Church, Columbia. His South Carolina pastorates also include Ravenwood Baptist Church, Columbia; and Foreman Memorial Baptist Church, New Ellenton. He and his wife Vera Ellen Carney have two sons – Bill, management team director for the South Carolina Baptist Convention, and John, pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Florence.
LESTER “JACK” RICH, 91, retired as pastor of Poe Baptist Church, Greenville, Oct. 22, after 12 years of ministry there.
THOMAS WHITE, a native of South Carolina, has been elected vice president for student services, overseeing student admissions, recruitment and retention for Southwestern Baptist Seminary’s campuses in Fort Worth and Houston and seven off-campus centers. He has been director of The Smith Center for Leadership Development since July 2004. A graduate of Anderson University and Southeastern Baptist Seminary, White was licensed by Chiquola Baptist Church, Honea Path, and ordained by Riverside Baptist Church, Greer, where his father, Jerry White, is pastor. White and his wife Joy have a daughter, Rachel.
Louanne StewartLOUANNE STEWART has been appointed to serve in Florence as an associational ministry evangelism director by the North American Mission Board. She has served since 1999 as ministry and missions development director for Florence Baptist Association. A native of Fountain Inn, Stewart is a graduate of Charleston Southern University and Southeastern Baptist Seminary. She and her husband Eddie have two children, Wes, 23, and Jessie, 18.