LEADERS
Derek Westmoreland
Derek Westmoreland is now serving as senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Millington. He formerly served as senior pastor of Hopewell Baptist Church, Savannah, from 2012-20. Westmoreland was licensed and ordained into the gospel ministry at First Baptist Church, Collierville. He is a graduate of Union University, Jackson, and Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Cordova. He earned a doctor of ministry degree in expository preaching from Union in 2014. Westmoreland currently serves as a director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. He and his wife, Tiffany, have four children.
Frank Derrick began serving Jan. 1 as director of missions for Union Baptist Association, based in Sparta. Derrick also serves as associate pastor and minister to students at Bear Cove Baptist Church, Sparta. Derrick and his wife, Connie, have four grown children and several grandchildren.
Jon Jones
Jon Jones began serving Jan. 1 as associate pastor of youth and education at First Baptist Church, Fairfield Glade. Jones, a graduate of New Orleans (La.) Baptist Theological Seminary, has served churches over the past 11 years in South Carolina and Louisiana.
Keith Cagle resigned Jan. 3 as pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Waynesville, to become pastor of First Baptist Church, Decaturville.
Mark Oliver is the new minister of children and director of recreation at First Baptist Church, Hickory Withe.
J. Matthew Nance
J. Matthew Nance, pastor of First Baptist Church, Union City, has published a new book entitled Bring Him All Your Emotions which is designed to show readers how to reveal their true inner feelings to God, how to receive divine navigation through negative emotions and how to wake up every day feeling blessed, loved and balanced. The book is available for purchase from Amazon.
Tiffany Hudson
Monte Skelton is the new pianist at Mount Olive Baptist Church, Somerville.
Brent McNew recently resigned as student pastor at First Baptist Church, Tullahoma.
Jim Thomas has been called as pastor of Paynes Baptist Church, Estill Springs. He previously served as associate pastor. This is his first pastorate.
Tiffany Hudson recently celebrated her fifth anniversary on the staff of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. She currently serves as Baptist Collegiate Ministry specialist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Hudson and her husband, Joel, have four children.
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DEATHS
Jerry Oakley
Longtime Tennessee pastor and former president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention Jerry Don Oakley died Jan. 23 at the age of 81. Oakley served as pastor or on the staffs of churches for 34 years. While pastor of Springfield Baptist Church, Springfield, Oakley was heavily involved in Tennessee Baptist life. In addition to serving as president, he served for 13 years on the Executive Board of the TBC (now Tennessee Baptist Mission Board) and was also president of the Tennessee Baptist Pastors Conference. Oakley was a graduate of Union University, Jackson, and held the master of divinity and doctor of ministry degrees from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky. Oakley left Tennessee to become executive director of Warren Association of Baptists in Bowling Green, Ky., for 13-and-a-half years. After retirement, he returned to Tennessee and became a transitional interim. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Brenda, two daughters, three grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
Joyce Barefoot
Former Union University First Lady, Joyce Lynn Barefoot, wife of Union’s 14th president Hyran Barefoot, died Jan. 23 at Maplewood Nursing Home in Jackson at age 93. She met and married Hyran Barefoot, the pastor of her church, Liberty Baptist Church, in Calhoun, Louisiana, in 1949. She became Union’s First Lady in 1986 when her husband became president of Union. Joyce Barefoot Drive on the Union campus is named in her honor. She is survived by her husband of 71 years, Hyran Barefoot, three daughters, six grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren
Jerry Wayne Franks, pastor of Ray’s Chapel Baptist Church, Waynesboro, died Jan. 18 at the age of 52. Franks is survived by his wife of 30 years, Jennifer Brewer Franks, three children and a grandson.
Skippy E. Rowland, pastor of Rocky Springs Baptist Church, Saulsbury, died Jan. 22 at the Magnolia Regional Health Center in Corinth, Miss. Rowland served as pastor of several churches in Tennessee. He is survived by his wife, of 50 years, Shirley Davis Rowland, three children and six grandchildren.
John Norman, a longtime pastor in Duck River Baptist Association, died Dec. 30 at the age of 74. He served several churches in 36 years, including First Baptist Church, Decherd, where he served from 1991-2011. He is survived by his wife, of 42 years, Micky, and three children.
Elizabeth Nichols Griffin, a member of the Development Council of Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, and a lifetime member in the J. Howard Williams Society and the Naylor Society at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, died Dec. 29. She was 92. Originally from Cordova, Griffin was married to Neil Griffin for 53 years until his death. They were faithful members of Bellevue Baptist Church, the couple regularly attended the annual Southern Baptist Conventions. While attending these conventions, they became aware of the needs of young ministers attending seminary, and this became the focus of their lives.