Eloy Felan Jr, senior pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista in Lubbock, died Jan. 2, at age 80. Born June 13, 1945, in Pearsall, Pastor Felan dedicated his life to sharing God’s love. After graduating from Wayland Baptist University, he began a ministry that spanned more than 51 years. Pastor Felan is remembered for his devotion to the church and deep love he held for his family. He and his wife, Lucia Felan, were married for 62 years. A man of leadership, humility, and strength, he touched many lives beyond the walls of the church. Beyond the ministry, he enjoyed playing golf, classic cars, hunting, racquetball, and fellowship with family and friends. Pastor Felan leaves behind a legacy of faith, compassion, service, and love. He is preceded in death by his son, David Felan; his parents, Eloy and Filomena Felan Sr.; and siblings, Ruth Garcia and Yolanda Ramirez. He is survived by his children, Eddie and Tonya Felan, Lori and Michael Parker, Rick and Maelynn Felan, Lisa Felan and Michael Rogers; 10 grandchildren, four great-grandchildren; as well as siblings, Petra Carranza, and Ysidro Felan; extended family; and dear friends.

Richard Smallwood, a singer and pianist best known for his contemporary gospel music hit “Total Praise,” died Tuesday, Dec. 30.

Smallwood was 77. He died of complications of kidney failure at a rehabilitation and nursing center in Sandy Spring, Md., his publicist announced.

Nominated eight times for a Grammy Award, the Stellar and Dove awardee was known for combining Black gospel and classical genres of music.

His ubiquitous song “Total Praise,” introduced with his group Vision in 1996, was later covered in the group Destiny’s Child’s a capella “Gospel Medley,” performed by a cantor at New York’s Carnegie Hall and sung by a choir when President Barack Obama welcomed Pope Francis to the White House.

“When you write a particular piece, you have no idea what’s going to become of it—will people like it, or will people sing it?” he told Religion News Service in a 2024 interview when he was honored at the Kennedy Center.

“And so, to see the years of people embracing it really means a lot to me as a composer. It means a lot that something I wrote can make a difference in people’s lives.”

His “I Love the Lord” was featured in a remake on the 1996 “The Preacher’s Wife” soundtrack by Whitney Houston and the Georgia Mass Choir. Other hits, recorded with The Richard Smallwood Singers and, later, Vision, included “Center of My Joy,” “I’ll Trust You,” and “Anthem of Praise.”

An ear for music

The Atlanta native was raised mostly in Washington by his mother, Mabel, who used to take him to hear the National Symphony Orchestra, and his stepfather, the Rev. Chester Lee “CL” Smallwood, who pastored Union Temple Baptist Church in Washington’s southeast quadrant.

The young Smallwood started playing piano by ear by age 5 and was taught in high school by singer-pianist Roberta Flack. Before founding the Richard Smallwood Singers in 1977, he was a founding member of Howard University’s Gospel Choir.

Smallwood was among the singers in the all-star choir that sang a new version of “Hallelujah” conducted by musician Quincy Jones on the 1992 album “Handel’s Messiah—A Soulful Celebration.”

Smallwood’s “Center of My Joy” was co-written with Bill and Gloria Gaither and introduced Smallwood to the white Christian community, publicist Bill Carpenter said.

That song, first performed with The Richard Smallwood Singers, became the group’s most popular hit.

He recorded “Journey: Live in New York” in 2007 and his final album, “Anthology Live,” in 2015. He published the book Total Praise: The Autobiography in 2019.

Personal struggles and community engagement

In the book and in interviews, Smallwood spoke of being diagnosed with depression.

“Music just tends to turn off the craziness, if you will, and brings a light of love and a feeling of peace,” he told RNS in the interview in 2024.

“Most of my music that I’ve done has come from personal situations from my life, things I’ve gone through, things that I’ve written about, things that I’m feeling, things that I’ve tried to convey to other people who may be hurting. Music has the tendency to heal hurt, and it certainly has healed mine in a lot of ways.”

Tributes to Smallwood

Smallwood’s death sparked accolades in musical, political, and civil rights circles.

Saxophonist Kirk Whalum played the notes of the start of the chorus of “Total Praise” in a video on Instagram.

“What a giant,” added Whalum. “Do you think maybe the angels in heaven will be singing that song ‘Total Praise’? I think they’re already tuning up. Be well, my brother, in the new Jerusalem.”

“Richard Smallwood was a musical genius and giant of a figure in the church and the gospel music world,” Sen. Raphael Warnock, senior pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, posted on X.

“He was an inspiration to all who encountered his music. His songs got us through tough times, dark and difficult days. No grave can silence his voice. The melodies linger and the faith lives on!”

Sherrilyn Ifill, a civil rights lawyer and former president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, added on Bluesky: “They will call him a gospel music artist. He was that. But Smallwood was also one of the greatest composers, period, of any modern music form. My heart is heavy. A great musical legend has left us.”

Smallwood, who had been a music minister at Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Baptist Church, credited a range of artists for influencing his blend of musical genres, from classical composer Johann Sebastian Bach to the Roberta Martin Singers of the mid-20th century to gospel composers Edwin and Walter Hawkins.

 “I think any music that preaches Jesus and him crucified is a kind of music that is appropriate in the church setting,” he told RNS.

Sergio Ramos, ministry leader and pillar of the Tyler County community, died Dec. 27 in Conroe. He was 82. He was born on March 26, 1943, in Tampico, Mexico, to Job and Ofelia Ramos. His proudest moment was becoming a U.S. citizen in 1970. Ramos, who had a passion for missions and church service, served as a deacon, choir member and missions team member and on the pastor search committee at First Baptist Church of Woodville. Ramos was also a member of the Texas Singing Men and served as music director for various churches in Tyler County for more than 40 years. For five decades, Ramos taught in the classroom and coached tennis. Ramos and his family, striving to live a life devoted to Christ, lived by a personal motto: “Remember who you are and who you represent.” Ramos was preceded in death by his brothers Homero and Juan. He is survived by his wife, Susan Ramos; daughter Stefanie Miller and her husband James; son, Stephen Ramos and his wife, Lauren; four siblings; four grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. Visitation with the Ramos family is scheduled from 5 p.m. to 8p.m. on Jan. 2 at First Baptist Church in Woodville. A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Jan. 3 at First Baptist Church in Woodville. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made to the Woodville First Baptist Church Missions Fund, 202 S. Charlton St., Woodville, TX 75979.

CORRECTION: The date of death was corrected from Dec. 7 to Dec. 27.

PHOENIX (RNS)—On a stage framed by glinting red-white-and-blue lights, Michael Knowles, a podcaster for the political outlet The Daily Wire, recalled Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the New Testament’s signal call for mercy and hope.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God,” Knowles read on Dec. 18 at opening night of AmericaFest, the annual conference of Turning Point USA, the conservative youth activist organization co-founded by Charlie Kirk.

Knowles was one of several speakers at the Phoenix Convention Center in the following days to paint Kirk as a spiritual unifier who connected disparate parts of the American right and reached out to progressives.

If Kirk had that power, this year’s AmFest has brought home how badly U.S. conservatism needs that kind of uniting presence.

Christian conservative cohesion tested

The movement’s cohesion has been tested in recent months by Tucker Carlson’s controversial interview with antisemitic internet influencer Nick Fuentes and by disputes over American support for Israel.

It’s also been shaken by ongoing revelations tying Trump world figures to sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein and by roiling conspiracy theories, such as former Trump adviser Candace Owens’ suggestion Turning Point USA is complicit in its own co-founder’s murder.

Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, acknowledged these rifts in her opening speech to the conference, saying: “We’ve seen fractures. We’ve seen bridges being burned that shouldn’t be burnt.”

Her warning went largely unheeded at AmFest, judging by speeches made from the stage, where Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro, Carlson, former White House strategist Steve Bannon and journalist Megyn Kelly all used their speaking slots to swipe at each other.

Young conservatives remain optimistic

On the floor, however, the college and high school students who make up the rank and file of Turning Point USA remained optimistic.

Roughly one-third of the 31,000 who came to Phoenix for AmFest were students. Many said their campus chapters, which go on door-knocking campaigns ahead of elections and man tables to promote conservative values, are gaining traction in the wake of Kirk’s death.

Two Generation Z attendees, one from California and another from Louisiana, said they joined Turning Point USA chapters in response to Kirk’s assassination. In her speech, Erika Kirk told the audience more than 140,000 students have applied to get involved with Turning Point USA since Sept. 10, when Kirk died, bringing its student membership to more than a million.

The organization is getting help from states such as Florida and Texas, which are working to make it easier to establish Turning Point USA Club America high school chapters.

Sixteen-year-old Sage Tousey, president of the Hamilton Southeastern Club America in Fishers, Ind., told Religion News Service her chapter swelled from 20 students to nearly 50 since Kirk was shot. She said it has become more religious in outlook as it focuses on service projects such as placing wreaths on soldiers’ graves.

Tousey, a nondenominational Christian, suggested religion is a more cohesive force than politics.

“We will always say Christ first, politics second,” she said.

‘It’s a big of a homecoming’

On Thursday’s warm, sunny morning in Phoenix, conservative politics and faith seemed to live side by side, with pro-Immigration and Customs Enforcement T-shirts being sold beside ones reading “Jesus Won.”

And while Kirk’s death hung over the meeting, the young conservatives, their blue lanyards bright against the brown and gray streetscape of downtown Phoenix, were volubly excited for the sold-out event.

“It’s a bit of a homecoming,” said Jackson Heaberlin, 18, who serves as the outreach chair of the Clemson College Republicans at Clemson University in South Carolina.

“You have all these months of very upsetting news, story after story of a left-wing radical violence, and then now you’re insulated in an environment of conservatives who are young and passionate.”

Even the disagreements among the headliners were taken as a sign of health. Attendees contrasted the sniping from the podium with cancel culture, which they see as standard procedure on the left.

“In the conservative movement, we will not always agree on things, but we know that we can always come together under religion,” Tousey said.

AmFest saturated with religion

Though Turning Point USA does have an arm that organizes pastors, Turning Point USA Faith, the core organization isn’t explicitly Christian. It describes its purpose as organizing students for limited government and free markets.

Still, AmFest was saturated with religion. Attendees raptly listened to British comedian Russell Brand, who was baptized in 2024 and faces rape charges in Britain, urge the audience to build a Christian nation.

Ben Shapiro, who is Jewish, said the idea God imbued humans with “creative capacity and the power to choose” is the “essence of conservatism.”

Kirk himself seemed to deepen his faith over his decade and more in the spotlight, and observers were watching the rhetoric at AmFest to see how much the organization will burnish its Christian brand moving forward.

“They want to promote this kind of above-politics thing with Charlie’s legacy,” said Matthew Boedy, a professor at the University of North Georgia who has studied Turning Point USA.

‘Erika Kirk spirit’ vs. ‘Trumpian attitude’

Boedy pointed to a “clear divide” between the Christian ethic shown by Erika Kirk, who emotionally forgave the killer at Kirk’s Sept. 21 memorial service in nearby Glendale, Ariz., and Trump’s stating flatly on the same day: “I don’t forgive my enemies.”

In an interview last week, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat asked Andrew Kolvet, who has taken over as host of “The Charlie Kirk Show” podcast, whether conservative politics could use more “of the Erika Kirk spirit” than “Trumpian attitude.”

Kolvet advocated for “a more conciliatory tone at times than our president,” while saying he appreciates Trump’s unapologetic approach.

At AmFest, Lucas Miles, senior director of Turning Point USA Faith, described Erika Kirk as a “well-discipled” Christian, and Trump as a newer believer.

“I think we’re just seeing a spectrum of … maturing in Christ and being conformed in the image of Christ,” he said.

Debate over immigration

The divide echoed a related debate among conservative Christians about guarding against empathy for immigrants—a theme that has puzzled even some prominent evangelical Christians as counter to Jesus’ teaching.

“The toxic empathy is getting so exhausting,” said Katie Turnbull, 25, who attended AmFest with her husband. “You hear huge pastors with huge churches preach to their congregations that love is love, and that we get to define love as opening the floodgates of our borders and bringing in the Third World.”

Some of those who addressed the conference, on the other hand, argued for making room for difference in U.S. society.

Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican candidate for president now running for Ohio governor, pushed back on the anti-immigrant sentiment that was in the air at the conference. A Hindu and the child of immigrants from India, Ramaswamy told the audience normalizing hatred toward any ethnic group has “no place in the future of the conservative movement.”

These kinds of sentiments were a minority view, however. While at times critical of Trump’s tone, most attendees viewed the president’s aggressive anti-immigrant policy as above reproach.

Concerns about rise of Islam

Several younger attendees hoped for broader restrictions even on legal immigration and combined concerns about immigration with broader fears about the rise of Islam, which they view as vehemently anti-Christian.

Gwyn Andrews, 22, who founded a Turning Point USA chapter at the University of West Georgia, expressed concern about the “Islamic faith issue that has been infiltrating our cities, our colleges.”

“A big issue for me personally is to make sure that people truly understand the Islamic faith and how that directly ties to socialism, as we’ve seen in New York City with Mamdani,” Andrews said, referring to New York’s Muslim mayor-elect.

For American society to thrive, Muslim immigrants need to assimilate, she said—an idea that cropped up consistently at AmFest.

“The goal is for them to understand that when you assimilate here, you can’t go to Dearborn, Mich., and turn the entire place into a Third World country and then try to implement Shariah law,” she said.

Anti-Muslim sentiment is nothing new to Turning Point USA. Kirk long argued Islam is not compatible with the West and to be American requires you to “worship God, not Allah.”

Assimilation framed as a faith issue

In a recent episode of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” Jewish conservative political commentator Josh Hammer argued that to be considered an American, one ought to “publicly assimilate into the Protestant-majority inherited culture.”

But in Phoenix, Miles framed assimilation as a faith question, saying God instructed his followers to welcome foreigners passing through, but stressed that those who stayed, like the biblical figure Ruth, chose to assimilate.

Those wanting to “keep their own identity and maybe usurp and take advantage,” he said, “the Hebrews were warned … to keep them at bay.”

AmFest’s insistence on Christian dominance over national policy, said Christina Littlefield, associate professor of communication and religion at Pepperdine University, veers into Christian nationalism, the idea the government should privilege a particular vision of Christianity at the cost of democratic pluralism.

Portraying Kirk, who often argued America should be a Christian nation, as a martyr is “radicalizing” for many conservatives, said Littlefield, co-author of Christian America and the Kingdom of God with Richard T. Hughes, a dynamic she called dangerous.

“Someone killed him because they did not like his political beliefs, which I condemn, but he did not die as a martyr for the faith.”

Leveraging Charlie Kirk’s death

While Turning Point USA is openly mourning Kirk’s death, it’s also leveraging his story to rally Christian pastors and recruit voters.

Miles told RNS Turning Point USA Faith’s network jumped from 4,200 member churches prior to Kirk’s death, to 9,500, and is now planning a “Make Heaven Crowded Tour,” hosting faith events at churches in more than 25 cities.

A new, free curriculum, First Truths, examining the fundamentals of the Christian faith already is available. Next year, the group will release another curriculum critiquing Islam.

At AmFest, Miles and other speakers appealed to faith to end the infighting seen on the stage, imbuing the organization’s political power with spiritual stakes.

“If we don’t unify as the body of Christ, then we are in a position where we are vulcanized, we’re fractured,” Miles told attendees at a breakout session.

Christian unity, he said, is needed to hold the line “when it comes to Marxism, when it comes to Islam, when it comes to progressivism, when it comes to abortion.”

Texas Baptist pastors and ministry leaders learned more about a four-phase plan for partnership between Texas and Ukrainian Baptist churches during a Dec. 18 Zoom call. The partnership launched Nov. 18 with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Texas Baptists and the Ukrainian Baptist Union.

The Healing Path Initiative is designed to connect congregations in Texas with churches across Ukraine through relationships, prayer, shared mission and eventual expansion.

Brent Gentzel, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Kaufman, said 42 churches “committed and are on board for the launch” of the partnership.

The partnership begins with a strong emphasis on relationships and encouragement. Texas pastors are paired directly with Ukrainian pastors, many of whom have been leading congregations through years of conflict, displacement and uncertainty.

Churches in Texas and Ukraine also are forming prayer teams, committing to daily prayer at synchronized times—7:07 a.m. in Texas and 3:07 p.m. in Ukraine.

In between the prayers, Matthew 7:7 and John 15:7 are to be considered for reading and reflection.

Later phases include plans for in-person gatherings, joint spiritual growth campaigns centered on the Great Commandment and Great Commission, and monthly financial support for community-based projects identified by Ukrainian churches.

Funds will be distributed through established denominational channels to ensure transparency and accountability.

Organizers also emphasized cultural similarities between Texans and Ukrainians, encouraging participants to focus on authentic relationships while being mindful of security and language differences.

Igor Bandura, vice president for international affairs with the Baptist Union of Ukraine, said Ukrainian pastors are eager to begin building relationships immediately. He noted while the realities of war remain serious, churches continue worshipping, serving and caring for their communities.

To learn more about the Texas-Ukrainian church partnership, visit https://www.healingpathmovement.com.

Wayland Baptist University has selected Ronald Angelo Johnson, associate professor of history and Ralph & Bessie Mae Lynn Endowed Chair of History at Baylor University, as the featured speaker for the 2026 Willson Lectures scheduled Feb. 10–12 at the university’s Plainview campus. The 2026 Willson Lectures mark the 75th anniversary of two pivotal moments in Wayland’s history. In 1951, Wayland became the first four-year liberal arts college in the former Confederacy to voluntarily integrate its student body. That same year, James M. and Mavis Willson established the endowment that would become the university’s most enduring lecture series. In addition to the scheduled lectures, Johnson will speak in select Wayland classes and participate in community-related events.

Houston Christian University art faculty and Master of Fine Arts students collaborated with The Heights Church in Houston to create the Jeanette D. and Howard D. Moon Gallery. The gallery’s grand opening and dedication, as well as the opening of its first exhibition, “A New Moon Rises,” took place at The Heights Church on Dec. 4. The Moon Gallery offers an opportunity for HCU faculty and students to share their creative work with a broader community audience as an extension of the ministry of a local church with which HCU partners closely. The gallery will serve as a space for visual arts, performing arts, fellowship and community events. To learn more about the Moon Gallery and the HCU artists who contributed, please visit themoongallery.org.

(RNS)—A group of NFL players sent a letter to Capitol Hill on Dec. 19, urging U.S. leaders to take steps to curb violence against religious groups in Nigeria, including Christians.

“As current and former NFL players who care deeply about justice—here in America and around the world—we are grieved and outraged by the mounting violence, and we write to urge you to act now to confront religious persecution in Nigeria and ensure that those responsible are held to account,” the players stated in the letter.

About 60 current and former players signed the letter, addressed to President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Among the signers were star players like quarterback C.J. Stroud of the Houston Texans, Brock Purdy of the San Francisco 49ers and Treveyon Henderson of the New England Patriots, a leading candidate for Rookie of the Year.

Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy also signed, as did Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons, Jameis Winston of the New York Giants, and three-time Super Bowl champion Devin McCourty.

Prompted by reports of religious violence

Benjamin Watson, an author and podcaster who played 15 years in the NFL, helped organize the letter in his role as editor-in-chief of Sports Spectrum, a faith and sports media company.

Watson said the letter was prompted in part by recent news of religious violence in Nigeria, including the November kidnapping of more than 200 children from a Catholic boarding school. That attack is part of a large pattern of violence against religious groups in Nigeria.

Since 2009, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has urged the U.S. Department of State to designate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” because of the ongoing violence.

“Perpetrators of the violence have attacked religious sites, including churches and mosques, kidnapped or killed religious leaders, and—in some cases—used violence or threats of violence against religious communities while demanding so-called taxes, invoking Shari’a law as justification,” according to a commission report from July.

According to the report, government-enforced blasphemy laws and attacks by bandits, Muslim insurgents and gangs have created “significant restrictions on freedom of religion or belief.”

“This violence severely restricts religious practice and observance by Christians, Muslims, and traditional religious communities across many Nigerian states in the Middle Belt and in the northeast,” according to the report.

Recommendations for U.S. action

Watson said players want to see U.S. leaders do more to address the violence against religious groups, including imposing sanctions and sending more humanitarian aid to victims of violence.

The letter, which notes that a number of NFL players come from Nigerian families, includes a list of seven recommendations for U.S. government actions. The list was compiled with the help of NGOs and aid groups working in Nigeria, as well as nonprofits that assist persecuted Christians.

“We came together with the idea to lend our voice in urging the president and Congress to keep pressing them to deliver sanctions, to provide humanitarian aid,” Watson said. “We want to show that we’re amongst the people who care and want to stand up with our brothers and sisters who are suffering in Nigeria.”

The letter is a first for Sports Spectrum, a 40-year-old publication focused on sports and faith. While players involved with the publication have spoken out in the past on issues like racial reconciliation, the need for clean water and other concerns, the group never issued a letter to U.S. political leaders.

Watson said he hopes the message will reach not only politicians, but also the fans who read the publication. He said the violence in Nigeria should concern everyone.

‘This was a moment where we had an opportunity to speak about justice and about kindness and about caring for our neighbors in a way that, right now, has been in the news,” he said.

‘We want to do all we can do’

Steve Stenstrom, a former NFL quarterback and president of Sports Spectrum, said that the kidnapping of school children in Nigeria hit home.

“We want to do all we can do, as if it were our own families and our own kids who were at those schools and in those churches and in those villages,” he said.

There’s been pushback from some fans in recent years against athletes, especially in the NFL, for taking public stands on social issues. Most notably, former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick claimed NFL owners colluded to ban him from the league after Trump criticized him for kneeling during the national anthem. Kaepernick eventually reached a settlement with the league.

Stenstrom acknowledged that these are polarizing times but said some issues transcend politics.

“This isn’t a left or right issue,” he said. “It’s a life-or-death issue for people on the ground.”

In their letter, the players said they felt a moral responsibility to speak up.

“We ask you, as leaders of this nation, to use the full weight of your offices to defend the fundamental right to live and worship freely and to send a clear message that the United States will not stand by while Nigerians are targeted, terrorized, and killed because of their faith,” they wrote. “The lives at stake cannot wait.”

Doris Ann Tinker of Richardson, who served as executive associate to three Baptist General Convention of Texas executive directors, died Dec. 12. She was 92.

“Like a diamond, Doris Tinker’s life—fixed solidly in her deep faith in Christ, devotion to family and relation to friends—sparkled due to the many facets of her personality and character,” said William M. Pinson Jr., with whom she worked four and a half decades.

She was born May 24, 1933, in Jonesboro, Ark., to Jimmy and Lorena Rees. She expressed her deep faith in Christ through a lifetime of Christian service, while also caring for her family.

“Although she spent much of her life working outside the home, family was always the focus of her life,” Pinson said. “She often quoted her father, a Baptist deacon chair, about matters of Scripture and church.

“She cared for her mother with deep devotion. In her mother’s latter years, she visited her every day in her nursing home on the way to and from work.”

Nearly three decades at the Baptist Building

Doris Tinker worked more than a decade as the pastor’s secretary at First Baptist Church in Richardson. She served about three decades at the Baptist Building, working as executive associate to two BGCT executive directors during their entire time in that position—James Landes and Pinson. She also served Executive Director Charles Wade during a transitional time.

“Any person visiting the office was greeted by her with the same smile and words of welcome,” Pinson said.

In her role as executive associate, Tinker organized “a constant stream” of meetings, “keeping in mind the needs of each person,” Pinson recalled.

“Her abilities kept things running smoothly. She planned, organized, and guided conferences and meetings large and small with attention to the finest detail. She worked with the staff of the Baptist Building, hotels, conference centers, and various settings to make sure all worked well.

“At the annual meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, with thousands of messengers and guests, she would walk through the facility before the convention sessions began to make sure everything was in order. And she did all of this with firmness but tact and courtesy.”

In retirement, she served another 25 years as director of communication and organization in the Texas Baptist Heritage Center as part of the executive director emeritus office.

‘Preferred to work in the background’

At the center, she helped work on 27 articles on Baptist beliefs and distinctive practices that were published in the Baptist Standard. She subsequently designed 19 leaflets based on those articles and Baptist Beliefs and Heritage, the book in which they were compiled along with other material.

She turned down the Texas Baptist Elder Statesman Award—now known as Texas Baptists’ Legacy Award “because it would bring too much attention to her,” Pinson recalled.

“She did not like the focus on her and preferred to work in the background without notice,” he said.

She was preceded in death by her brother, Buddy Rees, and her husband of nearly 65 years, B.W. Tinker.

She is survived by her son Greg Tinker and his wife Jennifer; granddaughter Stephanie Beazley and her husband Aaron Beazley; grandson Skyler Tinker and his wife Brittany; and three great-grandchildren: Jude Beazley, Esme Tinker and Callan Tinker.

A private graveside service is scheduled in December. A memorial service will be held at First Baptist Church in Richardson at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial donation can be made to HighGround Advisors for the Doris Tinker Endowment Fund (Fund 30119141), which benefits the First Baptist Church of Richardson youth ministry and Texans on Mission.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The first and sixth paragraphs were edited after the article originally was published to acknowledge that Doris Tinker served during a transitional period with BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade.

UPDATE: Information for the memorial service was added.