Paul Alverson Jr., who most recently served as interim director of missions for Waccamaw Baptist Association, has been named as the administrator of the Martha Franks Baptist Retirement Community. He began duties March 12.
Richard McLawhorn, president of South Carolina Baptist Ministries for the Aging, right, and former administrator John Medlin, center, welcome Paul Alverson to the Martha Franks Retirement Community.Alverson succeeds John Medlin, who resigned after 18 years at the Lauren’s retirement facility to take a human resources position with the South Carolina Department of Developmental Disabilities and Special Needs in Greenwood.
“Paul is uniquely qualified for this position,” Richard McLawhorn, president of South Carolina Baptist Ministries for the Aging, told The Baptist Courier. “He has a pastor’s heart for people and has prior experience as a nursing home administrator,” McLawhorn noted.
“One of my dreams has always been to work for a Baptist facility. So this is a dream come true,” remarked Alverson. “Martha Franks is one of those places you come to love. All these retired Baptist preachers and their wives are here, and it’s amazing to just be around these fine people. These are my folks!” he exclaimed.
“Martha Franks is really what a Christ-centered place ought to be. The residents here know that and appreciate it. That is why they are here,” Alverson added. “We just need to continue building on that good work.”
Alverson has been a Southern Baptist pastor for 37 years, serving congregations in both Carolinas and in Virginia. Among his pastorates were Holmes Avenue and Mt. Pleasant in Charleston. He also served as vice president and dean of students at Charleston Southern University for three years and was a trustee of The Baptist Courier.
A native of Spartanburg County, he is a graduate of Limestone University, Southeastern Baptist Seminary and Union Seminary. In 1991, Alverson began sensing a call to ministry to senior adults and the elderly. After completing additional studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he has since worked for Methodist nursing homes in Greenwood and in Durham, N.C.
He and his wife Brenda are parents of three children and have four grandchildren.