Dottie Rambo killed in bus accident
Gospel music legend Dottie Rambo died May 11, when her tour bus veered from a Missouri highway and struck an embankment. Seven others aboard the bus suffered severe or moderate injuries in the accident on Interstate 44 near Mount Vernon in southwest Missouri, the Associated Press reported. Rambo’s entourage was en route to a Mother’s Day performance at a Dallas-Fort Worth-area church. Officials were uncertain whether the crash was related to storms in the area. Rambo, 74, published an estimated 2,500 songs, with entries in nearly every hymnbook. Included in the 1991 Baptist Hymnal, for example, are “We Shall Behold Him” and “Behold the Lamb.” The two songs and a third, “Holy Spirit, Thou Art Welcome,” will be included in the 2008 hymnal.
Two Rivers members reverse ouster vote
Members of Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville, Tenn., voted May 11 to not accept all the ballots cast the previous Sunday on removing 71 dissidents from church membership. Their vote reversed the outcome of that balloting and the dissident members will now be removed from the congregation’s rolls. The church had assembled to vote May 4 after 10 months of controversy over complaints about senior pastor Jerry Sutton’s leadership. In a surprise move, Two Rivers’ deacon chairman Carlos Cobos announced that members of the dissident group would be allowed to participate in the balloting. The 663-337 vote to remove the dissidents from church membership fell four votes short of the required two-thirds majority. On May 11, however, when a church business session was convened to formally receive results of the balloting, a motion from the floor challenged the legality of those 71 votes. On a show of hands, church members reversed the deacons’ decision.
Tornadoes kill 22 in Okla., Mo., Ga.
Tornadoes killed at least 22 people in Oklahoma, Missouri and Georgia and left a wide swath of destruction May 10. A tornado in the Midwest with winds estimated at up to 175 mph tracked as many as 63 miles from Oklahoma to southwest Missouri. Four Missouri Baptists were among the 15 people killed by tornadoes in that state. Rick Rountree, 52, Kathy Rountree, 47, their son, 13-year-old Clayton, and Kathy’s mother Ruby Bilke, 76, were killed when a tornado slammed into their car. Rick had been serving as a temporary worship leader for Forest Park Baptist Church in Joplin.
Pollock, son killed in plane crash
Florida pastor Forrest Pollock and his 13-year-old son were killed May 12 when the single-engine plane Pollock was flying crashed in a heavily wooded area in western North Carolina. Pollock, 44, was senior pastor of the Tampa-area Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon. The St. Petersburg Times reported that Pollock had flown to North Carolina to see his mother on Mother’s Day. In 2006, Pollock nominated Frank Page to serve as SBC president during the annual meeting in Greensboro, N.C. Page told Baptist Press, “We are deeply grieved and in a state of shock that someone so young, so promising was taken so early.” Heaven is “a richer place today because of the presence of Forrest and Preston Pollock,” Page said. “I know I speak for our entire convention in expressing our appreciation for his ministry and our prayers for Dawn and the other five children and the precious people of the Bell Shoals Baptist Church.” Page had been scheduled to preach at Bell Shoals during the Memorial Day weekend.
Longtime music prof McElrath dies
Hugh McElrath, longtime music professor at Southern Baptist Seminary, died May 8 at his winter home in Penney Farms, Fla. McElrath, 86, retired from Southern in 1992 as the V.V. Cooke Professor of Church Music, having served at the seminary since 1948 when he began as a voice instructor. After retiring, McElrath continued teaching hymnology classes through 1998. A funeral service for McElrath was held in Southern’s Alumni Memorial Chapel in Louisville, Ky., on May 14. In 1992, McElrath became the first music professor to receive Southern’s Findley B. and Louvenia Edge Award for Teaching Excellence, the seminary’s highest teaching honor. From 1987-1989, McElrath served as president of the Southern Baptist Church Music Conference. He was a member of the theology/doctrine committee for the 1991 Baptist Hymnal and also served as editor of the handbook accompanying the hymnal.