Rogers church hires new pastor
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Rogers has hired a new pastor.
The church chose the Rev. Eric Longman after an eight-month search, said Duane Wright, an elder at Holy Trinity.
Longman, an associate pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Jackson, Mo., succeeds the Rev. Gordon Besel, who served as pastor at Holy Trinity for 23 years and retired last year.
“God led us to the correct person, the correct pastor, and we look forward to him being with us to take our church to where God wants it to be,” Wright said on Tuesday.
The congregation will hold an installment service for Longman at 3 p.m. July 28 at the church, 1101 W. Hudson Road in Rogers.
Theologian Geisler dies Monday at 86
Theologian, apologist, author and professor Norman Geisler died this week at the age of 86.
Geisler’s son, David Geisler, shared the news on the elder Geisler’s website on Monday.
“He has left behind an amazing legacy that will continue to have a ripple effect for many years to come,” said David Geisler.
Norman Geisler co-founded two nondenominational seminaries, Veritas Evangelical Seminary and Southern Evangelical Seminary, the latter of which he was also president emeritus, after retiring in May for health problems.
Norman Geisler’s funeral service will be live streamed today at 2 p.m., at Southern Evangelical Seminary’s Facebook page.
Mandrell elected Lifeway president
Trustees at Lifeway Christian Resources, the publishing branch of the Southern Baptist Convention, unanimously elected the Rev. Ben Mandrell to be the organization’s 10th president June 28, according to a news release.
The decision to elect Mandrell, the former lead pastor at Storyline Fellowship in Arvada, Colo., came during a special meeting in Atlanta. Mandrell is also a former staff member at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia. His wife, Lynley, is a native of Jonesboro and graduate of the University of Central Arkansas, according to information released announcing Mandrell’s nomination.
Mandrell takes the reins from Lifeway’s Executive Vice President, Brad Waggoner, who was named acting president in March, the month after the retirement of Life-way’s immediate past president, Thom Ranier.
The Rev. Ronnie Floyd, president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention’s executive committee, congratulated Mandrell and the trustees at Lifeway via Twitter on June 28 “for partnering together to advance the gospel of Christ to America and across the world.”
“Ben Mandrell is the kind of visionary, disruptive leader that Lifeway needs just at this moment,” said the Rev. J.D. Greear, president of the convention and pastor of Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, N.C. “I am thrilled with this choice.”