Lexington Association celebrates 20 years with DOM Johnny Rumbough

Director of missions Johnny Rumbough has served Lexington Baptist Association for 20 years, and the anniversary was celebrated during a March executive committee meeting. Association staff, board members and other ministry partners shared meaningful words and presented Rumbough with gifts to note the milestone.

Association vice moderator Chris Platt chaired the meeting, where he spoke to Rumbough’s personal and professional impacts. He has known the DOM since Platt was called to pastor Dixiana Baptist Church in West Columbia in 1997, and said he is “inspired” when the two work together.

“Johnny’s visionary heart has reinvigorated the Lexington Association, and his passion and drive are contagious,” Platt said. “He is open and honest, never uses his position to strong-arm something he may want to see go forward, and he has streamlined the association, making it very budget friendly. Johnny displays a sincere love for the Lord, his family, and his work. I have truly enjoyed working with Johnny, and look forward to working with him in the future.”

According to Charles Leonhardt, chairman of the Lexington associational administrative team, Rumbough is a “shining example” of Christian leadership through service.

“Johnny is a truly humble and decent man, gentle and kind to all, and has led our association through the strength of his vision in our Lord’s will for Lexington,” Leonhardt said. “Even in troubled financial times, the churches in our association have come to trust our associational office with more and more of their resources. We believe that monies spent under Johnny’s leadership are safely in the middle of God’s will.”

Rumbough prefers to shift focus from his tenure and ministry accomplishments to the association’s ability to assist in missional efforts locally, nationally and abroad. “I love what I do, and feel called to do it,” he said. “It seems like it’s gone by so quickly and yet, in many ways, like I’m just getting started. There is still a lot left to be done.”

Since Rumbough came in 1986, Lexington Association has grown from 66 churches to 80 churches and missions. Total baptisms have topped 12,000, lay leadership involvement and overall giving have reached record highs, and its focus on missions is evident in staff positions, partnerships, and the creation of an online missionary training center. Rumbough also had a four-year term as president of the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders, an organization of representatives from more than 1,100 associations.

“I served as the chairman of SBCAL while Johnny was president, and saw firsthand his commitment to help associational leaders. His passion has helped make it a healthy organization,” said Randy Bradley, director of missions for Three Rivers Baptist Association. Bradley also serves with Rumbough on the South Carolina DOM officers team, where Bradley is the treasurer.

Brandon Sandifer, pastor of Pineview Baptist Church in West Columbia, currently serves as chairman of Lexington Association’s executive committee, and has known Rumbough for nine years. “I appreciate that Johnny truly desires to see the churches of the association be healthy, Christ-exalting, disciple-making congregations,” he said. “He has been an encouragement to me in that endeavor.”

“Lexington Association is a partner for our churches,” Rumbough said, “and we are filled with gratitude to be a part of something much bigger than just Lexington, South Carolina, or the United States. I am thankful for the association’s ministry that allows me to fulfill the call God’s given. It’s exciting, and I feel so supported and affirmed in the position that I have.”

Bradley spoke of receiving that same support and affirmation from Rumbough, who helped as Bradley returned home from the mission field in 2007 to become a director of missions. “Proverbs 27:17 says, ‘Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.’ That’s what Johnny does; he makes people around him better,” Bradley said.

Coaching and training others is an important part of Rumbough’s ministry, as is his passion for missions. “There is an urgency to delivering the message to the people of the world. There is a critical call to deliver the Gospel to all people so they can respond to it just as I and my friends have,” he said.

A graduate of Charleston Southern University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Rumbough also holds an honorary doctorate from Charleston Southern. He served eleven years as a pastor and associate pastor before coming to Lexington Association in 1996. Rumbough and his wife, Valerie, have two adult children and five grandchildren.

 

 

 

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