Baptist Briefs

Posted: 3/16/07

Baptist Briefs

Agee announces retirement from college association. Bob Agee has announced his retirement as executive director of the International Association of Baptist Colleges and Universities, effective at the association’s June 2007 annual meeting or “as soon thereafter as a new executive director can be named.” Agee, 68, was president of Oklahoma Baptist University and also served as executive director of the Consortium for Global Education, a sister organization that promotes partnerships between association members and more than 80 colleges and universities worldwide.

History/heritage society moving to Mercer. Headquarters of the Baptist History and Heritage Society will relocate to Mercer University’s Atlanta campus in July. The move comes on the heels of the American Baptist Historical Society’s decision last September to consolidate and relocate its archival collections to Mercer’s Atlanta campus. Both relocations are major steps in Mercer’s aspiration to become a national center for Baptist scholarship.

LifeWay names Waggoner VP. Brad Waggoner has been elected to the new position of vice president for research and ministry development at LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville. Tenn. Waggoner has taught at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Wayland Baptist University in Plainview and East Texas Baptist University in Marshall. He also was minister of education and college pastor at Elmcrest Baptist Church in Abilene.

Crawford to lead Richmond seminary. Florida pastor Ron Crawford will be nominated as president of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, Va. The pastor of College Park Baptist Church in Orlando will be presented for election by the board of trustees of BTSR, an 18-year-old moderate Baptist seminary with more than 300 students. A native of Virginia and former trustee of the seminary, Crawford will succeed Tom Graves, who last fall announced he is retiring for health reasons. Graves, 58, has battled multiple sclerosis for several years. Crawford, 55, holds master of divinity and doctor of ministry degrees from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University, and a master of public administration degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. He previously served as pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church in Richmond, Va., and was president of the Baptist General Association of Virginia.