Baptist Briefs

Posted: 4/13/07

Baptist Briefs

Georgia Baptist communicator killed.

Diane Reasoner, 57, longtime communications specialist for the Georgia Baptist Convention, was killed in an auto accident April 1 in metro Atlanta. Her husband, Richard, clinical director of Christian Counseling and Psychological Service, in Suwanee, Ga., was injured in the three-car accident on Interstate 985 that killed two and seriously injured five others. Diane Reasoner had worked for the Georgia Baptist Convention 20 years. She oversaw the work of the Georgia Religion News weekly radio program, electronic media, the convention website, public relations and print materials. She also was developing Georgia Baptists’ Internet radio ministry, scheduled to launch in May. In addition to her husband, she is survived by two sons, Rich and Rob, and three grandsons. Reasoner was a member, along with her husband, at First Baptist Church of Duluth, Ga.

Baptist historian to be honored.

Alabama Baptist historian Wayne Flynt will receive Baptists Today’s annual Judson-Rice Award for leadership with integrity. Flynt—who taught at his alma mater, Samford University in Birmingham, before joining the Auburn University faculty in 1977—is regarded as a strong advocate for the poor and as a bridge builder across racial divides. A tutoring program he organized at Rosedale High School in Homewood, Ala., produced the first African-American students to attend Samford. More recently, Flynt helped found Sowing Seeds of Hope, a long-term ministry effort in rural Perry County, Ala., and the Alabama Poverty Project. He has written and lectured extensively on race and poverty.

ABP opens New York bureau.

Associated Baptist Press has launched a news bureau in New York City. ABP Assistant Editor Hannah Elliott opened the independent news service’s New York bureau March 15, a little more than a year after she joined ABP’s staff and began running its Dallas bureau, working from the Baptist Standard office. Her husband, Spencer, recently accepted a promotion with a financial-services firm, transferring him from its Dallas office to New York. Elliott will continue to fill the assistant editor’s role, which includes writing, editing and posting stories online. ABP Executive Editor Greg Warner said the organization plans to re-staff the vacant Dallas bureau when funds are available.

National Baptist group rejects paroled former leader.

Henry Lyons, former president of the National Baptist Convention U.S.A. and convicted felon, was defeated in his bid for the presidency of the Florida General Baptist Convention. Participants at the state convention’s annual meeting instead elected James Sampson of Jacksonville, Fla., to lead Florida’s oldest predominantly African-American religious group, which is associated with the National Baptist Convention U.S.A. Lyons, 65, gained notoriety in 1999 when a Florida jury convicted him of state grand theft and racketeering charges. They also found that, while president of the National Baptist Convention, he stole millions of dollars from convention partners like the Anti-Defamation League. He ended up serving more than four years in state prison and will remain on federal probation until 2008. The scam was uncovered after Lyons’ then-wife set fire to a $700,000 home owned by Lyons and his mistress. A subsequent investigation into Lyons’ personal affairs uncovered his other misdeeds. Lyons currently serves as pastor at New Salem Missionary Baptist Church in Tampa, Fla.