Passages - Christianity Today

Died • Bill Hogue, former executive director of the California Southern Baptist Convention, on Jan. 26 in Brownswood, Texas, from cancer. Hogue, 82, led to the “Covenant for a New Century” restructuring of the SBC in 1995.

Died • Jack Sparks, Campus Crusade worker who founded the 1970s’ Christian World Liberation Front, on February 8 near Anchorage, Alaska, of a heart attack. Sparks, 81, later co-founded the Evangelical Orthodox Church.

Selected • Philip Ryken, as president of Wheaton College, on February 20. Ryken, currently senior minister at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, will start July 1.

Selected • Kenneth W. Starr, as president of Baylor University, on February 15. Starr, previously president of Pepperdine University’s School of Law, replaces former Baylor president John Lilley fired in July 2008.

Died • Donald Wiseman, a professor who played vital role in Tyndale House and Tyndale Fellowship, on February 2. He was 92.

Died • Michael Harper, Archpriest of Antiochian Orthodox Church who led the Charismatic movement in the Church of England in the 1970s, on January 6. He was 78.

Stepping Down • Dick Bott, as president and CEO of Bott Radio Network in February, passing control of the media empire he founded in 1962 to son Rich Bott. The elder Bott will remain board chairman of the 82-station network.

Died • Glenn Penner, CEO of The Voice of the Martyrs Canada, on January 26 near Toronto from cancer. He was 48.

Stepping Down • L. Gregory Jones, as dean of Duke Divinity School, effective March 1, in order to become Duke University’s senior advisor for international strategy. He has been dean since 1997.

Died • Norman Wagner, world-renowned leader among Pentecostals, on January 30 in Youngstown, Ohio, following heart surgery. He was 68.

Stepping Down • James Towey, as president of St. Vincent College. Towey, an attorney who ran the Bush Faith-Based Initiatives program, will be replaced July 1 by Norman Hipps, currently executive vice president and a Benedictine monk.

Resigned • Michael Puglisi, as president of Virginia Intermont College, on Jan. 25 after successfully navigating the Baptist-affiliated school through a financial crisis. Trustees, who requested that Puglisi step down, also announced 40 layoffs at the college.

Selected • Phil Schubert, as president of Abilene Christian University, on Feb. 12. Schubert, currently executive vice president of the school, will start June 1.

Elected • Albert Reyes, as president of Buckner International, on Jan. 22. Reyes, 51, previously served as president of Buckner Children & Family Services and is former president of Baptist University of the Americas.

Leaving • Gordon McLean, after 61 years with Youth For Christ and founding its Juvenile Justice Ministry, to become president of Partners With Youth, a new Chicago ministry aimed at getting youths out of jails and gangs and into churches.

Died • Jack E. McClendon, longtime pastor at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., and civil rights activist, on Jan. 26. He was 83.

Elected • Rick Nelson, as chairman of Lutheran World Relief on Jan. 27. Nelson is senior pastor of Central Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis.

Retiring • Kurt Warner, star quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals and outspoken evangelical, announced on Jan. 29. Warner will focus on his foundation.

Died • Robert Welch, president of the Wisconsin-Upper Michigan Synod of the former Lutheran Church in America (ELCA predecessor), on Jan. 29 in Wisconsin of complications from heart surgery. He was 86.